Shabine is a racially diverse, working-class Caribbean sailor and smuggler from Trinidad. He occupies a socially complex position, facing rejection from multiple communities due to his mixed ethnic heritage. He writes poetry to process his identity and his surroundings. He loves the sea and his islands but feels driven away by systemic corruption and racism, prompting his choice to sail on the schooner Flight.

Maria is Shabine's wife who remains in Trinidad. She serves as a grounding, embodied presence in Shabine's memory, remembered fondly for her physical reality rather than as a distant ideal. She continually consults an ineffective Book of Dreams to interpret her subconscious, representing the domestic and terrestrial life Shabine leaves behind.

Also referred to as the minister-monster, he is a corrupt official in Trinidad who employs Shabine to illegally smuggle Scotch. When the smuggling operation inevitably collapses, he uses his position of power to evade justice. He leaves vulnerable workers like Shabine to face the legal consequences.

A fellow crew member on the schooner Flight who disrespects Shabine's writing. He snatches the exercise book Shabine uses for his poetry. This action provokes a violent physical retaliation, prompting Shabine to defend his art with a knife.

Vince is a fellow sailor on the schooner Flight who listens to Shabine's grievances. He serves as an audience for Shabine's philosophical musings regarding the violent nature of Western progress and the tragic history of the indigenous Carib people.

A white, parchment Creole man who represents a portion of Shabine's complex ethnic background. When approached by his grandson with questions regarding his Black grandmother, he reacts with hostility, racism, and physical disgust.

The commanding officer of the schooner Flight. During times of extreme weather crisis, he displays immense physical endurance, clinging to the ship's wheel with a determination that evokes religious imagery.

A mystical, personified presence that communicates directly with Shabine beneath the emerald water. This entity offers Shabine the morning star if he leaves his wife. The vision mixes Christian and pagan mythological elements with the raw power of the sea.