Characters
- Major Henry Scobie – Longtime police inspector and protagonist of the novel.
- Louise Scobie – Henry's devout Catholic wife.
- Catherine Scobie – Deceased daughter of Henry and Louise.
- Ali – Scobie's long-time African servant.
- Edward Wilson – New inspector who secretely spies on the actions of Major Scobie, and is in love with Louise.
- Harris – Housemate to Wilson
- "Dicky" Pemberton – Inspector who commits suicide due to his large debt to Yusef.
- Helen Rolt – Newly arriving widow who becomes Scobie's mistress.
- Yusef – Syrian local black marketeer who blackmails Scobie after finding a letter in which he expresses his love for Helen.
- Tallit – Catholic Syrian who is the main competitor to Yusef.
- Father Rank – Local Catholic priest.
- Father Clay – Catholic priest at Bamba who reads about saints.
Read more about this topic: The Heart Of The Matter
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“The major men
That is different. They are characters beyond
Reality, composed thereof. They are
The fictive man created out of men.
They are men but artificial men.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“I have often noticed that after I had bestowed on the characters of my novels some treasured item of my past, it would pine away in the artificial world where I had so abruptly placed it.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“I cannot be much pleased without an appearance of truth; at least of possibility—I wish the history to be natural though the sentiments are refined; and the characters to be probable, though their behaviour is excelling.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)