The Narrator
"Peaches" is told from the first-person point of view of the narrator, who seems to be a Japanese man around the age of forty. Most of his appearances in the story, though, are from his youth; through the use of memory, he explores his experiences regarding his mother and peaches in order to shed light on the mysterious memory in question. From his narration, he seems to be a disciplined, contemplative man with strong familial loyalties and a penchant for speculation. The narrator is also seems to be superstitious since he believes mother's story about the foxes and the cousins stories.
Narrator's Mother
In "Peaches," the narrator's mother is the other major character in his important memory: she is pushing a pram full of peaches with him down a long and dark road in the winter. His other memories paint a more detailed, lifelike picture of her: she is practical and protective, although possibly with a streak of neediness and sensuality, as evidenced by her interactions with the man who comes to visit.
The Peach Man
This man, a major character in "Peaches," is given no name or moniker in the story, but his presence is crucial for understanding the narrator's youthful memories in retrospect. He is a family friend, the son of the landowner from whom the narrator's family acquired their land. He often comes by the house to bring vegetables and care for the peach trees, doing almost any jobs asked of him. Described as a "round, ruddy man," his laughter is unapologetically loud and his reputation that of debauchery.
The Narrator's Father
The narrator's father has less of a presence in "Peaches" than does his mother, but this is mainly because he was a navy man and left home for long periods of time to fight in the war. The sole vivid memory the narrator retains of him is a scene in which he, an "obstinate military man," harshly scolds his wife for some unknown offense, and despite her begging commands her to go and fix the problem that very night.
The Narrator's Brother
The narrator's brother is not a major character since he is in middle school. He later was preparing for Naval entrance examination. In "Peaches" he is painted as a short teppered man in the way he gets angry when dinner is delayed. The narrator seems not to have a lot of memories between them.
The Distance Relative Nun
In "Peaches" the narrator shows the problems met by people living with disability. The narrator paints a picture how her mother explains the story of the nun vividly as if she was there. The narrator explains why the story moved him and did not like the story retoled. The nun later drowns herself in a pond.
Narrator's Cousins
In " Peaches " the story by the narrator's cousin is crucial since it helps him connect "the dead boy's sobbing from the riverbank." The cousins, although not stated clearly,are caring because they may have told the story to prevent the narrator to play in the risky mud.
The Nuns
These are the nuns who were in the covenant where the distant relative of the narrator went and became a nun. They are painted rigid, the narrator from mother's story shows that they tortured her to a point of suicide due to an alleged theft which was poorly investigated.
The Man Who Wasn't There
This character shows up in a story when the main character is having identity and invisibleness problems. The man's battle with social rejection is a reflection of larger existential problems.
