Doctor Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer is the protagonist of Mountains Beyond Mountains. He’s noted as a renown doctor and anthropologist. Although he could have the life of bustling American hospitals and millions of dollars like many of his colleagues at Harvard Medical School, Farmer is an ardent humanitarian who can’t conceive a living for himself that doesn’t include taking care of the ill and injured in Third-World countries. Some of Farmer’s biggest struggles have sprung up from an attempt to help the exploited and destitute. It’s noted that he doesn’t believe in God, yet Farmer advocates Catholicism while also questioning it deeply. His unique connection between science and religion makes him a piece that fits organically within Haiti’s medical field, where he is a proponent for the world’s understanding of the Haitians’ relationship with Voodoo and Western medicine. Farmer struggles with the fact that with every patient he picks to aid, he’s denying treatment to many others.
Tracy Kidder
Tracy Kidder is the author and narrator of Mountains Beyond Mountains. As we naturally measure Paul Farmer’s many humanitarian achievements against Kidder, he surmounts to a pretty ordinary man - who is also be considered to be an influential character within the novel. Kidder spends a lot of time observing Farmer, studying the manner in which he practices medicine and attempting to understand how Farmer could be so selfless. Kidder struggles with Farmer’s idealism, wondering if America’s foreign policy could be as detrimental as Farmer claims. At certain points within the novel, Kidder wonders whether Farmer’s devotion to charity as a kind of excuse, as humanitarian gives Farmer the power to claim that much of what he does is right. Generally, however, Kidder views Farmer as moral man motivated by a genuine hope to help others.
Ophelia Dahl
Ophelia is a smart young British woman with which Farmer forms a close relationship with while the two are doing charity work in Haiti. Unlike Farmer, Dahl grew up in luxury as she’s the daughter of the famous children’s author Roald Dahl. While it is a bit difficult for her to adjust to life in Haiti, she ultimately confides in Farmer and the two eventually become lovers. Over the years, Ophelia comes to see both sides of his character: while she loves his selflessness, she is often agitated by his habit of putting himself in danger. Farmer eventually proposes marriage to her, but ultimately Ophelia refuses.
John
John is a young Haitian boy who Farmer encounters while working there. He suffers from a rare form of cancer which consumes his face and results in him being flown to Boston for treatment. John’s travel from Haiti to Boston is lengthy and excruciating, serving as the dramatic climax of the book; and although John receives the best treatment and care possible, he eventually dies of cancer.
