Daniel is the book’s main protagonist, and the story told involves his experiences in Madrid in 1957, and how those experiences shaped the rest of his life. Daniel represents the author herself: Fascinated by Spain, Sepetys wanted “to understand” and “to reciprocate the affection, comprehension, and compassion that the people in Spain had shown” her on her travels (475). Much like Daniel, however, she realized that as an outsider, she could not fully understand; the story was not hers to tell. Thus, she tells the story mainly from the perspective of an outsider: Daniel. The Fountains of Silence is a coming of age story in which Daniel journeys from child to adult, learning that love cannot conquer all, and that sometimes justice does not prevail.

Daniel, at 18, is a handsome and kind young man, but one with an inner resolve and maturity that makes him seem older than he is. Daniel’s passion, however, is also a mark of his youth. Like many young adults, Daniel’s aspirations for himself differ from those of his family: His father prefers that he join the family oil business; Daniel wants to be a photojournalist. He becomes involved with Ana and her extended family partly from love but also in an attempt to realize the potential of photojournalism, which is to help the world see what’s occurring—with American complicity—in Spain.