Chicha is a young, educated schoolteacher assigned by the government to the rural village of Bamso. As an outsider who follows modern ways, she views the community's traditional practices with some detachment, tracking time on her European wristwatch. She cares deeply for her favorite student, Kwesi, and harbors ambitious daydreams of giving him a formal grammar education abroad.

Kwesi is a ten-year-old boy and the only child of Maami Ama. Treasured by his mother, favored by his teacher Chicha, and adored by the whole village, he possesses a happy, charismatic personality. He enjoys playing goalie in local infant soccer games and acts as the central focus of affection and contention among the adults in his life.

Maami Ama is Kodjo Fi's first wife and a devoted mother raising her only son, Kwesi, largely on her own. Enduring years of mistreatment from her husband and his family, she seeks a formal divorce to escape her unhappy marriage. Her entire identity and sense of purpose revolve around her love for her child, making her highly protective of him in the face of legal and social vulnerabilities.

Kodjo Fi is a powerful man in the village of Bamso who has three wives. He treats his first wife, Maami Ama, with cruelty, giving her no allowance for necessities and assigning her the smallest, thorniest farming plot. As the representative of traditional patriarchal power, he initiates divorce proceedings while maintaining a distinct advantage over his estranged wife.

The women of Bamso include Kodjo Fi's female relatives and Maami Ama's own aunts. Together, they function as an enforcer of the village's traditional patriarchal culture. Rather than supporting a fellow woman seeking a divorce from a bad marriage, they frequently ostracize Maami Ama, scold her for her choices, and hurl accusations at her.