Lou is a corporate executive whose company, Zagrum, is experiencing a crisis with departing staff. He arrives at the mandatory parents' workshop feeling cynical and defensive. He views his son as a broken object that the camp needs to fix and struggles to accept the facilitators' assertion that his own mindset requires examination. His abrasive approach to leadership has alienated his coworkers and isolated him from his family.

Carol is Lou's wife and has functioned largely as a single parent due to Lou's intense focus on his career. She harbors quiet resentment toward her husband while presenting a dutiful exterior. She is more open to the camp's philosophy than Lou and insists they remain in the program for their family's survival, eventually admitting her own internal hostility.

Yusuf is a Palestinian Arab Muslim and the co-founder of Camp Moriah. He draws on his personal history of loss and political conflict to teach parents about the roots of hostility. He maintains a calm, empathetic demeanor that disarms defensive participants, modeling the peaceful state of mind he advocates for the parents.

Avi is an Israeli Jew and the co-founder of Camp Moriah. Having lost his father in the Yom Kippur War, Avi uses his own background of grief and prejudice to illustrate the destructive nature of carrying generalized hostility. He explains the philosophical foundations of the camp's approach to the attending parents.

Cory is Lou and Carol's 18-year-old son. He has a history of substance abuse and minor criminal convictions. He arrives at the wilderness program resistant and hostile, serving as the catalyst for his parents' attendance at the mandatory workshop.

Saladin is a 12th-century Muslim sultan used as a primary historical example in the workshop. The facilitators contrast his recapture of Jerusalem with the earlier Crusaders' violent siege. He represents the ability to engage in necessary conflict without losing sight of the opponent's humanity.

Martin Buber is a real-world Jewish philosopher whose 1923 work provides the conceptual framework for Camp Moriah's curriculum. His theories regarding how people relate to the world form the basis of the camp's teachings on perceiving others as either people or objects.

Gwyn is a parent from Dallas, Texas, attending the workshop for her daughter. She is observant and willing to challenge the other participants, occasionally pointing out defensive behavior in the group. She tentatively suggests that Lou's wife might feel controlled by him.

Pettis is a Vietnam veteran and parent from Dallas, Texas. He draws on his military background to engage with Lou's arguments about warfare and conflict. He provides a calm, grounded perspective during the group's tense debates.

Miguel is a parent from Oregon attending the program. He frequently relates the facilitators' concepts to his own marital arguments, finding quick solidarity with Lou and Avi regarding domestic disputes.

Ria is a parent from Oregon. She pushes back against her husband's interpretation of their marital conflicts during the group discussions, demonstrating the exact defensive cycles the facilitators are trying to explain.

Elizabeth is an Englishwoman attending the workshop. She provides international context to the discussions, easily connecting the facilitators' concepts of entrenched conflict to political situations like Northern Ireland.

Jenny is a highly distressed teenager who initially refuses to participate in the wilderness program. Her standoff in the parking lot provides Yusuf and his staff an opportunity to demonstrate their relationship-first approach in real time.

Teri is an anxious parent who feels entirely helpless when her daughter refuses to join the wilderness program. She sits through the initial workshop sessions highly distracted by her child's location.

Carl is a frustrated parent who struggles with his daughter's choices. He serves as an example during the workshop of a parent who disapproves of his child's peer group.

Hannah is Avi's wife. She is primarily present in the narrative through Avi's anecdote about a domestic dispute over edging the lawn, which he uses to illustrate the concept of mutual provocation.

Hamish is an Israeli Arab who was Avi's childhood best friend. Following the death of Avi's father, Hamish became the target of Avi's generalized rage, serving as a personal representation of the cost of carrying a warring heart.

Mordechai is an elderly Jewish beggar who Yusuf encountered in the Old City. Yusuf's memory of choosing not to help Mordechai pick up spilled coins serves as the primary illustration of self-betrayal.

Kate is a highly regarded former executive at Zagrum. She led an exodus of staff from the company after Lou's controlling and hostile leadership style created an untenable work environment.

Mei Li is a young staff member at Camp Moriah. She demonstrates the camp's philosophy of meeting people where they are by literally removing her own shoes to follow a barefoot, resistant teenager for hours.

Mike is a young employee at Camp Moriah. He assists Mei Li in following Jenny barefoot through the city, helping secure the teenager's voluntary enrollment in the program.

Maeve is a blind Irish student who Yusuf met in the United States. Having lost her sight to a rubber bullet fired by a British soldier, she provides Yusuf with a powerful example of letting go of historical grievances.

Susan is Lou's assistant at Zagrum. She bears the brunt of his workplace hostility, though she is the recipient of his first clumsy attempt to apologize and apply the camp's teachings.

John is a local union president threatening a strike against Zagrum. His phone call with Lou demonstrates how quickly Lou abandons his new communication skills when placed under professional pressure.

Mary is Lou and Carol's daughter. She is removed from the immediate crisis with Cory, but her distance from Lou highlights his historical absence from his children's lives.

Jesse is one of Lou and Carol's children. Like his sister Mary, he exists in the periphery of the family dynamic, illustrative of a household shaped by an absent father.

Jamie is Gwyn and Pettis's daughter, whose behavioral struggles prompt her parents to attend the wilderness workshop.

Balian is a historical figure who led the defense of Jerusalem against Saladin. He is used to demonstrate how an opposing force can be met with respect and mercy rather than dehumanization.