Michael Devlin
This young, intuitive Jewish boy is only 11 when he is forced to witness a horrific assault against another Jew. His experience of racism and bigotry only continues as he and his community are continually harassed by a gang of Irish Catholics who commit acts of terrorism in the name of Christianity. Michael ends the novel by deciding to summon a monster from Jewish folklore by God's name in order to smite the Irish terrorists.
Kate Devlin
This poor woman is the victim of so much circumstantial pain and frustration that when Michael comes to her with a serious issue of trauma, she dismisses him with a hyper-religious argument. To Michael this seems insufficient, but the reader must remember that Kate's husband died just before the novel begins, so she is also in mourning. In her opinion, life is unfair, but God will judge the wicked in the afterlife.
Rabbi Judah Hirsch
This thoughtful clergyman is a Czech refugee from WWII and the Holocaust. That doesn't mean that he escaped antisemitism though, because his new home, Brooklyn, is also very distrusting of Jews—especially the violent gangs of Irish people who often harass Jews for racist and religious reasons (although the religious reasons are stupid and unfounded). He is a religious mystic, and he teaches Michael that unbeknownst to the general public, some Jewish mystics believe they can do magic by studying Kabbalah.
Frankie McCarthy
This single gangster represents the interests of his entire gang, the Falcons. Frankie is an Irish Catholic, and he uses his religion as an excuse to abuse others and commit acts of terrorism. As a religious extremist, he mostly just uses religion as an excuse to act out his hateful racist ideologies.
