Jacob is the protagonist and narrator of the story. His first-person narration of the events follows two timelines. The elderly Jacob is in his nineties and lives alone in a nursing home, mourning the recent death of his wife and contemplating the curse of aging. Through his memories, Jacob narrates the second timeline, telling the story of his youth and how he came to be a part of the Benzini Brothers traveling circus in 1931. This framing device allows the author to tell Jacob’s entire story from age 23 to some 70 years later. Young Jacob has an intense sense of right and wrong but often fails to act on his conscience. His experiences in the circus open his eyes to evil in the world, but it’s his love for Marlena that moves him to act.

Jacob’s character is shaped by his environment, obstacles, and opportunities. The sudden death of his parents seismically shifts his trajectory, as he leaves the world of ivy league education and enters the world of an itinerant worker in a traveling circus. His passion for animals opens an opportunity to become a valuable member of the circus staff but instantly puts him at odds with the leadership, whose only care is that the animals can perform: “I cannot leave these animals.