Tanner
Tanner is the protagonist of the story. Born an orphan in England, he is sent to New Zealand with the expectations of becoming an apprentice under the tutelage of a wealthy family. Instead, he quickly finds that wealthy people see all those of a lower status as mere servants. Another servant is a young woman named Kitty whom Tanner falls in love with and subsequently marries.
Tanner insists they hold off marrying for three years so that he can save money. Even then, they still wind up too poor to afford to settle anywhere but a desolate place in an isolated part of the countryside many miles from their nearest neighbor. That Tanner remains committed to this plan despite living a life he had led to believe would be otherwise says much about his personality in this character-driven narrative.
It is this character attribute of Tanner that is the driving force of the story: his ability to learn, adapt and change. Not much actually happens in the story explicitly, but it becomes a tale with an unexpectedly happy ending precisely because Tanner is attentive, a thoughtful planner, and eager to transform crises into learning opportunities.
Kitty
Kitty also comes to New Zealand from England with high expectations immediately lowered by a dose of reality. Her dream of being a governess also turn out to be the harsher reality of living the life of a servant. She is just sixteen when she meets Tanner but is intuitive enough to glean from his behavior that he is illiterate. Thanks to Kitty’s strong will and Tanner’s adaptability, this does not long remain the case.
Narratively, Kitty’s most significant act in the story is her pregnancy. Subtly indicated throughout, however, is that Kitty and Tanner survive and can even be said to thrive because they are a perfectly compatible match. She is equally hard-working and determined and together they become a couple that overcomes adversity through their combined strengths.
Kitty’s labor that is the central event of the story is performed by aptly assisted by Tanner due to the remoteness of their living conditions. An epilogue of sorts indicates this will be repeated nearly ten times over the course of the marriage, indicating a robust procreative fertility that is more than matched by her other life-nurturing qualities.
Brinkman
Brinkman is situated in juxtaposition to Tanner and Kitty as their nearest neighbor. Despite being the person living closest to them geographically, he is still a good ten miles away. The remoteness of his living condition is contrasted to his neighbors by virtue of his living alone as a bachelor. So isolated from each other are they that a tradition has developed in which Brinkman ritualistically arrives twice a year for a dinner at the home of Tanner and Kitty.
It just so happens that one of these two dinners coincides with Kitty going into labor. It is a testament to the impact of the solitary nature of Brinkman’s daily life that when he shows up he is far more concerned about whether dinner will be served than the potentially dangerous circumstances of Kitty delivering the baby before a doctor can arrive.
Still hoping that the long trek won’t be a wasted meal-free trip, Brinkman smokes and waits on the porch. He is still there not yet ready to give up all hope on enjoying dinner when the doctor finally arrives and the near tragedy that actually took place as a result of Tanner facilitating Kitty in giving birth is ultimately revealed.
