Maud is the main character and protagonist. The plot follows vignettes of her life from childhood through adulthood. She is black, “the color of cocoa straight” (53), and her everyday life experiences contribute heavily to the novel’s theme about race.Maud enjoys life’s simple joys, such as eating apples in the family kitchen or watching sunsets from the back porch. She is sympathetic and often understands where others are coming from in their thoughts and actions. Her appreciation for everyday simplicities is overshadowed by disappointment in the early years of her marriage to Paul, but Maud’s endearing positivity returns by the end of the novel.

Paul is Maud’s lighter-skinned husband. He describes his own appearance as lacking fine features: “They aren’t regular. They’re heavy. They’re real Negro features. I’m light, or at least I can claim to be a sort of low-toned yellow, and my hair has a teeny crimp. But even so I’m not handsome” (54). Paul never claims to be handsome, and in this way he and Maud are similar.

Paul dreams of improving his social status. Maud recognizes him as an admirer of “the gay life, spiffy clothes, beautiful yellow girls, natural hair, smooth cars, jewels, night clubs, cocktail lounges, class” (55).