Rudolph is a determined Black man with a wife and three children living in impoverished, cramped housing in Chicago. Driven by a hunger for a structurally sound home free of vermin, he resolves to move his family regardless of the location. He possesses a tough demeanor and approaches initial racial hostility with immense patience, prioritizing his family's living conditions over his personal comfort. However, he remains entirely willing to fight if his family is physically threatened.

The white residents of the Reeds' new neighborhood actively resent the presence of a Black family. Bitter and violently territorial, they surveil the Reeds and use physical intimidation tactics—such as throwing increasingly large rocks through the glass—to terrorize them. They act as a hostile mob enforcing residential segregation through fear.

Rudolph's wife is a hard-eyed mother who partners with him in seeking a better life for their three children. She shares her husband's stoic, unyielding constitution and endures their hostile new environment with grim endurance. Her practical nature allows her to silently tend to her family's wounds when violence breaches their home, anchoring the family during crises.

Mabel is one of Rudolph Reed's three children, characterized by her youthful innocence. Like her siblings, she shares in the difficult reality of growing up Black in a racially hostile environment, forced to become tough at an early age. When aggressive neighbors begin throwing rocks through their windows, Mabel suffers a direct injury that pushes her father to his breaking point.

The agent is a white gatekeeper who sells the Reeds their new home. Described with the word "corroded," he views Rudolph's bold ambition as a joke, casually disrespecting him while expressing a mocking respect for his toughness. He represents the institutional barriers Black families face in accessing quality housing.