Lev Beniov
The story's protagonist, Lev is merely 17 at the beginning of the story. The novel is primarily concerned with Lev's coming of age, transitioning between boyhood and manhood. Though he is now living on his own, Lev has yet to have sex or fight for his country, two of the things his society views as defining manliness.
Lev is intensely self-deprecating, and heavily scrutinizes himself throughout the novel. In the Crosses, a prison, early in the book, he says that “[he] would never be a great Russian”, because he views himself as lacking the moral fortitude of his Muscovite forbears. He criticizes himself for envying Kolya’s pull on women, though he knows that Kolya is not to blame for Lev’s mousy and slender appearance.
By the end of the novel, Lev has fought, and killed, for those he loves, and though he hasn’t made love, he has met his lover. Even if the reader is not convinced that Lev has fully grown into manhood, they can rest assured that he is well on his way to coming fully of age.
Kolya Vlasov
Kolya is Lev’s best friend, though by the novel’s conclusion they had known each other for less than two weeks, and had been thrust together by circumstance. Kolya seems to live each moment to the fullest to Lev, even to a fault. Lev begins their relationship viewing Kolya as arrogant and reckless, but eventually comes to respect his confidence as a vital asset in their adventures, and he becomes Lev’s mentor and a figure similar to an older brother, educating him on romance and fighting. Kolya is described as handsome and confident - quite the foil to Lev, who is middling in his attractiveness and a self-described coward. He not only fights before Lev, he also lays with Sonya while Lev is trying to sleep in an adjacent room, further presenting the dichotomy between the two.
Despite these differences, Kolya and Lev become very close friends. While walking towards Mga, Kolya convinces Lev to open up about Abraham, Lev’s father, who was taken by the NKVD, the Soviet secret police, after a controversial book of poems was published. Lev had not discussed his father with anyone since the disappearance, and yet, he opens up to this man he has known for less than a week.
Vika
Introduced relatively late in the novel, Vika is Lev’s love interest. She is a sniper in the Soviet resistance, highly accurate and deadly. Vika is shown to have a fanatical devotion to the Soviet state, willing to sacrifice her life for the war effort if needed.
In many ways, Vika can be read in a manner similar to Kolya; she represents the manliness or adulthood that Lev has yet to grasp. She kills for her country on a consistent basis, and seems to greet the prospect of death, for the most part, without fear. Vika also represents the object of Lev’s long-repressed sexuality emerging. He fantasizes about her vividly - much more vividly than the sole crush of his youth- and views her as a sexual creature. Further, he claims that his act of bravery in fighting back against Abendroth is spurred on only by a desire to save Vika, not out of any inherent courage. If Kolya is the mentor, meant to gently guide Lev on his path to adulthood, Vika represents the culmination of his efforts towards coming of age: romance and violence.
Abendroth
If any character could be identified as the novel's antagonist, Abendroth would easily claim the title. A sadistic Nazi commander, Abendroth represents the perversion of the ideals which Lev's society views as defining manhood.
He is indiscriminate in his violence, and absolutely brutal at all times- demonstrated vividly when Lev learns of the manner in which Abendroth murdered the runaway Zoya. He also perverts the sexual side of manhood, as he rapes Russian women and threatens to rape Vika.
Colonel Gretchko
Colonel Grechko incites most of the incidents in the novel. He sends Kolya and Lev on their search for a dozen eggs, thus beginning the primary plot.
When first introduced to the main characters, Lev does not think that he could ever relate to the colonel, seeing him as an amoral force. However, Lev discovers that he and the colonel have at least one thing in common - both have come into conflict with the NKVD, albeit in Lev’s case, indirectly. Once Lev sees the false teeth of the Colonel, he realizes that Grechko has been tortured, “rehabilitated” in one of Stalin’s purges.
The Colonel, ultimately, is the mouthpiece representing one of the novel’s primary themes aside from coming of age - the uncaring nature of bureaucracy in the face of struggle. Not only does he brag about personally executing those who forge ration cards out of hunger, he makes Kolya’s death seem for naught when he airlifts in 3 dozen eggs, merely adding the dozen that Kolya died for to his stockpile.
Korsakov and Markov
Korsakov and Markov are the two most notable members of the partisan group Lev and Kolya encounter, aside from Vika. Korsakov is the clear leader, shown after the assault on the house near Berezovka. However, his time in the novel is short-lived. He is killed after the Germans attack the group. As he turns to return fire, his jaw is blown off by a bullet. He stands still, swaying, as he dies.
Markov was not a leader in the partisan group, but is the only survivor from the group aside from Vika, Kolya, and Lev. Once they assimilate into a nearby group of prisoners, Markov is accused by a prisoner of being a partisan, and is shot by German soldiers.
Korsakov and Markov represent those who died trying to defend Russia from the invading Germans. Korsakov is a stand-in for those who had to make some moral compromises to achieve their goals, but ultimately retained their humanity. Markov is his foil, representing those who abandon morality in favor of what they see as the greater good.
