Characters
- Dina Shroff (later, Dina Dalal when married to Rustom Dalal)
- Ishvar Darji
- Omprakash "Om" Darji (Ishvar's nephew)
- Maneck Kohlah
- Nusswan Shroff (Dina's brother)
- Zenobia (Dina's friend)
- Mrs. Gupta (Zenobia's Client/Dina's boss)
- Vasantrao Valmik (the proofreader and lawyer)
- Ibrahim (the rent collector)
- Dukhi Mochi (father of Ishvar and Narayan)
- Thakur Dharamsi (killed Om's father and is later in charge of the Family Planning)
- Ashraf Chacha (Dukhi's friend. A tailor)
- Nawaz (Ashraf's friend)
- Rajaram (initially, a hair collector and later, Bal Baba)
- Monkey-man (a resident of the slum who kills Beggarmaster)
- Aban Kohlah (Maneck's mother)
- Farokh Kohlah (Maneck's father)
- Avinash (Maneck's good friend that mysteriously disappears, President of the Student Union and Chairman of the Hostel Committee)
- Sergeant Kesar
- Shankar (the crippled beggar) also known as Worm who rolls on the ground
- Beggarmaster (Step or Half Brother of Shankar) and who controls all the beggars
- Shanti (a girl in the slum)
- Jeevan (Tailor who was with Om and Ishvar in their first assignment)
- Ruby Shroff (Nusswan's wife)
- Rustom Dalal (Dina's deceased husband)
- Shirin Aunty (Rustom's uncle)
- Darab Uncle (Rustom's uncle)
- Mr Toddywalla (chatty man at the music recitals)
- Fredoon (Dina's male friend)
- Xerxes and Zarir (Ruby and Nusswan's children)
- Narayan Darji (Ishvar's brother.) Ordered flogged, burned and hanged by Thakur Dharamsi because he (along with two other men) demanded they be given a ballot.
- Kim ( lazy child )
- Pandit Lalluram (a Brahmin)
Read more about this topic: A Fine Balance
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“When the characters are really alive before their author, the latter does nothing but follow them in their action, in their words, in the situations which they suggest to him.”
—Luigi Pirandello (18671936)
“Hemingway was a prisoner of his style. No one can talk like the characters in Hemingway except the characters in Hemingway. His style in the wildest sense finally killed him.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)
“The naturalistic literature of this country has reached such a state that no family of characters is considered true to life which does not include at least two hypochondriacs, one sadist, and one old man who spills food down the front of his vest.”
—Robert Benchley (18891945)