Roselily is a single mother living in poverty who works as a seamstress to support her family. Though raised in a rural Christian environment, she is a closeted atheist who finds herself agreeing to marry a devout Muslim man from Chicago. She agrees to the union primarily to secure a comfortable life for her children away from the South. During the brief wedding ceremony, she mentally debates the trade-offs of her choice, questioning if the promise of financial security justifies submitting to unfamiliar patriarchal and religious expectations.

The Groom is a serious, pious Muslim man from Chicago who earns enough to promise his new family financial security. He looks down on the Southern, poverty-stricken setting of the wedding, viewing the local Christian traditions and passing cars as symbols of the racism he wishes to rescue his bride from. He genuinely adores his future wife but approaches the marriage with the expectation that she will stop working, have more children, and adopt his religious customs.

The Preacher officiates the wedding on the front porch near the highway. He delivers a standard, rote service that sharply contrasts with the bride's racing internal monologue. He stands as a physical representation of the Southern religious institutions that have historically constrained the local community.

A Northern man educated at Harvard who previously had a relationship with the protagonist. He valued markers of social sophistication, such as classical music and proper language, and judged his partner for lacking them. He suffered from severe emotional instability during the pregnancy and eventually took their son to live in New England.

An older man who attends his daughter's wedding on the family's property in Panther Burn. He observes the event dispassionately. He serves as a living link to the familial and historical roots the bride is preparing to leave behind.

The deceased mother of the protagonist. She is buried in the local soil of Mississippi. Her legacy physically surrounds the wedding, as her daughter wears her old wedding dress and feels the historical weight of her memory holding her to the South.

The younger siblings who attend the front-porch wedding. Their sister suspects they find the entire affair, including the clash of cultures and religions, somewhat absurd.

Three children who live with their mother in Mississippi. They are a primary factor in their mother's decision to remarry, as she desires to give them a life free from the intense poverty she has known.

The son who lives in New England. His mother wonders whether his Northern upbringing will make him stronger than his emotionally fragile father, or if it will render him entirely unsuited to handle the harsh realities of the South.