- Jagan: The protagonist. A follower of Gandhi in his youth, he works as a sweetmeat vendor by profession. The novel portrays him as a typical Homo Narayans; Jagan is a timid man, not notably wealthy or poverty-stricken, and yearns to spend life with the least troubles. He appears to be an extremely orthodox and peaceful man. His only son is the pearl of his eye. Occasionally, Jagan exploits religion and his Gandhian principles to save himself from his mental agitations and Mali's various attempts at bulldozing his peace and hates European culture.
- Mali: Jagan's son. An ambitious young man, spoilt by his father, he has a strong repugnance towards the educational system of India, and desires for more modern prospects of business. He blames his father for his mother's death. After studying Creative Writing in America, he comes back to his hometown and tries to "modernize" it.
- The cousin : The 'man-about-town', he claims his cousinhood with everyone in Malgudi. He proves to be helpful in creating a communicative bridge between Jagan and Mali. He is quite an affable character who displays appreciation of Jagan's simple Gandhian lifestyle and simultaneously gets on well with Mali and his various modern notions. Close criticism may prove him to be an ambitious, calculating man with the intention of gaining the control of Jagan's business, which he does eventually at the end of the story.He creates humour and hypocrisy in the plot.
- Grace: A half-American, half-Korean girl whom Mali brings home, claiming that she is the latter's wife. She works like a catalyst between the two conflicting cultures, and tries to integrate into the Indian culture she has entered into, but results only in strengthening the cultural difference.
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