The four characters of the novel are sketchily described, and their present circumstances are limited to the details that permit the development of the action of the novel. Since the story takes place in a few day's time, the characters remain largely devoid of a past.

Don Rigoberto is, by far, the novel's most interesting character, not because he is especially complex but because Vargas Llosa relishes in his quirks and describes them in titillating detail, creating what Anthony Burgess calls "the pornography of hygiene."

Don Rigoberto is compulsive about his personal cleanliness and his bodily functions. He appreciates them as marvelous and necessary, to be worshipped both for their sake as well as for the sake and welfare of the whole body. He devotes a day a week to the care of a different member or organ: Monday, hands; Tuesday, feet; Wednesday, ears; Thursday, nose; Friday, hair...