Marais is a wealthy white Afrikaner farmer, regional Party leader, and Commandant of the local security commando. He operates within the strict racial hierarchies of apartheid-era South Africa and worries deeply about how anti-apartheid activists will use the recent farm accident against his community. Accustomed to unquestioned authority, he prefers to keep his emotions hidden and avoids drawing unwanted scrutiny.

Lucas is a twenty-year-old Black laborer who works on Marais Van der Vyver's farm. He possesses an aptitude for mechanics and has learned how to operate tractors and complex farm machinery. During hunting trips, he rides on the roof of the truck cab to spot animals, communicating directions to the driver by pounding on the metal roof.

Alida is Marais's wife, a white woman focused on maintaining proper aesthetics and social expectations. She strongly dislikes the visible presence of security fencing on their property because it disrupts the look of her artificial stream and garden. She stands by her husband during public events, offering a supportive presence even if he remains oblivious to her efforts.

Captain Beetge is the local police captain in the rural farming community. He represents the systemic justice apparatus of the government. He is familiar with the local white landowners and treats them with deference, offering sympathy rather than suspicion when an incident occurs on their property.

Lucas's mother is a Black laborer on the Van der Vyver farm, currently in her late thirties. She carries a heavy silence and a tense demeanor, wearing a black dress to the burial. She refuses to look at her employer during the service, and her silent, stoic presence radiates a palpable tension.

Lucas's young wife is a Black woman who lives and works on the farm. She is currently pregnant with her second child. During the service, she is completely overcome with grief, leaning heavily on her relatives for physical and emotional support.

Lucas's son is a young boy who attends the funeral for his father. His presence at the burial exposes him to the harsh realities and pain of his community at an exceptionally early age.

Willem Van der Vyver is Marais's late father, a respected historical figure in the farming community. He passed his land and his hunting rifle down to his son, establishing the generational wealth and authority that his family currently enjoys.