Spiros Antonapoulos

Antonapoulos is the person that John Singer cares most about in the world, even though there is little evidence that he returned Singer's affection. The book's first chapter concentrates on their ten years of life together and how Antonapoulos behaved more and more badly as years passed— stealing from the restaurant, urinating in public, pushing people around—until his only relative, Charles Parker, has him committed to an insane asylum. Throughout the rest of the book Singer pines for his friend's companionship, even though most of his memories of him seem to involve Antonapoulos drinking or stealing money or in some other way taking advantage of his friendship.

Jake Blount

People in the town fear and mock Jake Blount because his behavior is wildly uneven, symbolized by the two sets of clothes that he owns: the white linen suit that he arrived in town wearing, and the...