Master Abraham

Master Abraham is a Jewish shopkeeper from Europe. He came to America only to experience the same prejudice that drove him from Antwerp, where his son was killed in a racial attack. By the time he speaks in the story, he has become afflicted with the fever.

Allen

Much of the story is told by an African-Ameri-can man named Allen, both from the first-person point of view and the second-person point of view. Many critics have suggested that Allen is based on Richard Allen, the founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Allen serves as an assistant to Dr. Rush; he helps care for the victims of yellow fever, and in some cases, helps bury them. He also has a wife and a daughter from whom he is separated for fear that he will infect them. Allen spends much time thinking about the cause of the fever...