Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

Kerans is the protagonist of the novel. A middle-aged scientist who grew up in the aftermath of the changed world, he has no memories of society as it once was. The drowned world is all that Kerans has ever known, as he was born and raised at a United Nations settlement in the Arctic Circle. For the past decades, Kerans has been studying the world. He surveys the sunken cities, the lagoons, and the jungles for insight into the changing world. By the beginning of the novel, however, he has come to believe that no one is reading his reports. He is captured by a sense of futility, but he continues his work regardless. At the same time, he has struck up a romantic relationship with Beatrice Dahl. Much like his work, their relationship seems futile. They are not particularly warm or affectionate with one another; they are passing time, waiting for something to happen. This loss of agency permeates the novel and its protagonist. He feels powerless to do anything about a world in which all hope for the future was lost before he was even born.