Max Disher/Matthew Fisher

Max/Matthew is the main character of the novel and serves as more of an antihero than a typical protagonist. Whereas a protagonist typically acts admirably and somehow wins the reader's sympathy so that the reader is on the protagonist's side, an antihero acts contrary to his expected role.

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Max Disher works as an insurance agent in Harlem at the novel's beginning. Tired of experiencing discrimination and being rejected by white women, Max undergoes Dr. Crookman's treatment, becomes white, and moves to Atlanta to look for the pretty girl who rejected him at the Honky Tonk Club. In Atlanta, Max goes by the name Matthew Fisher and joins forces with Rev. Givens of the Knights of Nordica in order to make money. Givens' daughter, Helen, turns out to be the very girl for whom Matthew had been searching, and...