A Cameraman
There is a character of an ambitious cameraman who gave up his career in BBC and went on to achieve his ambition. After a short time, he got his first project to capture the conflict between Palestine and Israel. He narrated various encounters during the war and then he continued his journey. He went to Afghanistan during the most crucial times there and proved himself a most daring journalist. He filmed those events with his camera about which other journalists couldn't think about. This is Martin Fletcher's one side of character among the other shades of his character.
Martin Fletcher
Martin Fletcher is the most important character of the book whose journey from a boy to a correspondent has been shown in this memoir. He went for reporting on various war fronts including Afghanistan and Israel. He captured the traumatic incidents during war and risked his life to narrate what was happening there. Martin captured the moments of war with sympathy and he has tried to compel the world to connect with their fellow human beings despite of ethnic or territorial differences. The terrible sights of men and women dying and the dead bodies of various human beings made him realize about the pathetic conditions of humans living in different parts of the world. The scenes awakened his soul and he covered humans or individuals instead of events.
Dying People
The book presents various characters who were dying because of starvation or famine. Martin encountered those men and women during his reporting and he posed various questions to shake the humanity. He says, " A man just lost his daughter to famine, should we showcase his grief in closeup? Somebody has been shot and is lying in the street, should I help or keep the film rolling? A woman is about to die from famine. Should I capture her suffering and death, maybe hoping by showing it to the world, the world will act?" Through depicting a woman who was dying, Martin has given an insider's view in the gruesome situation of Somalia and the countries who are going through such situations.
Holocaust Survivors
The author has also presented the holocaust survivors along with introducing other people in his memoir. Martin was also a holocaust survivor and he has given an account of the dreadful incidents which the Holocaust survivors went through. His thrill and excitement for horror and terrific situations are also a result of holocaust experience. Martin does not become afraid of war, bullets or disasters because of the Jewish experience of holocaust and his family roots as holocaust survivors.
Palestinians
The author has also introduced the Palestinians in his book. The Palestinians were suffering at the hands of Israel and the author spent years during intifada in Palestine. He witnessed the terrible conditions and the ensuing struggle during his stay there. Martin has explained both sides of the conflict in Palestine and his attempts to present the truth are somehow amalgamated with his emotional experience while describing the Palestinians and their traumatic efforts.
