Feld is a Polish immigrant and struggling shoemaker running a shop in New York during the late 1940s. Having experienced financial hardship, he considers himself a practical man who places a high premium on material success and upward mobility. His primary ambition is to secure a stable, comfortable future for his family, which he believes can be achieved if his daughter either pursues higher education or marries a professional.

Sobel is a 35-year-old refugee and Holocaust survivor who serves as Feld's highly skilled assistant. Arriving in America with a difficult past, he lives a spartan lifestyle in a modest boardinghouse and shows little interest in material wealth or status. Instead, he dedicates himself to self-education, collecting books and reading voraciously simply for the sake of acquiring knowledge.

Miriam is Feld's 19-year-old daughter, a first-generation American who works as a clerk. She actively resists her father's pressure to pursue formal higher education or marry for financial security. Instead, she fiercely values her independence and cultivates her intellect on her own terms, primarily by reading books shared by her father's assistant.

Max is the college-educated son of a peddler who is currently studying to become an accountant. He embodies the upward mobility and professional success that many immigrants dream of for their children. Highly pragmatic, Max tends to view social interactions through a transactional lens and focuses heavily on material concerns rather than emotional pursuits.

Feld's wife is the mother of Miriam and a grounding presence in the family's life. She has stood by her husband through numerous financial ups and downs, demonstrating a loyalty that relies on emotional connection rather than material prosperity.