Who is Ondrej Vinich?

Ondrej is the father of the narrator, and yet is as much of a main character as his son. He is a man who tries throughout his life to take control of his own fate, and yet in his early life, fate deals him such harsh blows as to drive him from America, the land of promise, back to the old country of the Slavic empire. He imposes his thirst for life on his son, teaching him important life lessons and instilling character values in him that will shape him for time in the war. For Jozef's part, he goes through a phase where he wishes the most to be unlike his father, and yet his character is firmly molded by his father's influence. Ondrej is patient and contemplative and thorough.