The protagonist and narrator of Landscape with Invisible Hand, Adam Costello is the son of Mrs. and Mr. Costello and is Nattie Costello’s brother. He’s a teen high school student and a budding artist. His primary characteristics include his passion for art and truth and his caring and altruistic nature. He’s shortsighted and idealistic, but over the course of the novel, his understanding deepens and his perspective shifts.

As the protagonist, Adam is a dynamic character. He resents the oppressive conditions the vuvv have caused but strives to fit into their society. He plays into vuvv desires by participating in the reality show and by fighting alongside his family to gain a financial foothold in the vuvv economic system. While some of his art portrays fantastical locations, Adam prefers to paint the truth and to show the world as it is. Adam values honesty, which he has learned from Mrs. Costello and Mr. Reilly, and he has a strong self of self. He knows what he wants—to live apart from the current society and to follow his artistic passions. In addition, he opposes forces that attempt to damage his self-esteem, such as by arguing against Chloe that he can’t help his medical condition.