Sherwood Anderson's characters are generally "unpretentious people" whose apparently simple lives stand in contrast to the philosophical complexity of their existence. Aline and Dudley are dreamers who each are disappointed with their attempts to break out of the ordinary. Dudley's reporting career seemed like a dead-end job, and he was willing to abandon the possibility of excitement in Chicago to return to the routine existence in Old Harbor.

Aline is restless, and compared to her husband, Dudley seems like an experienced man. Aline's husband, Fred Grey, is the symbolic end to what life in Old Harbor must become if people do not regenerate themselves. He is an impotent husband and ineffectual boss who cannot even control his employee Sponge.

The characters' names reflect their roles in life: Dudley is a "dud," a failure; Aline (perhaps, "align", or a-line) takes the most self-serving path; Fred Grey is without color...