The Minister of the Interior

The Minister of the Interior is the central character in the story. He remains unnamed throughout the story, though the Marlboro Man knows his given name. The Minister is a short man in his sixties who has enjoyed the luxuries of his political position, but in the aftermath of the natural disaster, he is traveling to Paris to be with his wife and children. The Minister is over-confident and out of touch with his countrymen who are suffering in the wake of the storm. His acts of charity and generosity are belied by his constant denial of his own culpability and inability to see the struggles of his people from their perspective.

As the story progresses, the Minister's character transforms from an out-of-touch wealthy man in a position of power to a criminal who, readers learn, was part of an unspecified military effort that...