Richard Elster
For a protagonist, Elster is a difficult character to understand. He is a seventy-three-year old veteran. For decades now he's been living on his own and spending much of his time outdoors. After a mysterious and somewhat suspicious meeting with top government officials, Elster goes to live in the dessert, accompanied by Jim Finley. He's accepted a mission which he must keep utterly secret, even from the readers. As he goes about his solitary life, however, Elster starts dropping hints in the format of a haiku. He starts writing haikus about the war, becoming increasingly frustrated by the limitations of the format in describing the enormous weight of the experience of war. Although it is not stated, Elster appears to be experiencing a break from reality, so the details of his relationship to his writing, his past, and even his secret government mission remain suspect.
Jessie Elster
Elster's daughter, Jessie re-enters his life when he moves to the desert. She takes after him in many ways, namely she's a strong communicator. With an almost otherwordly accuracy, she can predict what people are about to say before they actually do. She can read lips as well, which helps. She comes to look after Elster a bit and becomes yet another facet of the old man's life which he cannot completely process, but her presence seems to reassure him. Both father and daughter love each other dearly.
Jim Finley
Jim is a filmmaker. He has either been tasked or has decided of his own accord to follow Elster into the desert and turn his life into a feature film. In practice, this looks like Jim accompanying Elster frequently and asking him a ton of questions. Elster doesn't seem to mind Finley's presence, but he does become confused and guarded about these questions. He seems to believe that Finley is a part of his own government mission.
