Eva Stern
Eva is the protagonist. She grows up during WWII, a Jew in Germany. As she helplessly watches her family be taken from her and then one by one murdered, she tries to accept their fate as her own. By chance, however, Eva survives the concentration camp she is assigned to and sees liberation. As an adult, she struggles to adapt to society once again. She feels largely displaced, extreme grief, and guilt for having survived when so many others whom she loved and admired did not. Unable to forgive herself, she shuts down multiple attempts of other people to befriend and even marry. Eva is an outsider, transformed by trauma. As a means of piecing her life together in the wake of disaster, she starts researching Jewish history and looking around her at how other Jews carve meaning out of their lives after the tragedy of the war.
Uncle Stephan
Eva's uncle also survives the war. His family is more fortunate than Eva's and remains alive, though emotionally scarred. Uncle Stephan feels compelled to act upon his blessing and to devote his life to rebuilding the nation of Israel, as a true sacrifice to counteract the evil done his people. In order to do this, he leaves his family and moves to Israel, never to return.
Othello
Othello is a character in Shakespeare's play bearing the same name. As a Moor, related to the Jews in antiquity, he desires to become a true Venetian, his captors and benefactors. After falling in love with Desdemona, he determines to demonstrate his sophistication, but he remains a sort of joke among the court and noblemen. His race is his defining feature, despite various admirable qualities. In the end, he is deceived by the trickster, Iago, and kills his wife believing she was unfaithful.
Desdemona
Desdmona is Othello's beloved who becomes his wife. She is an innocent, slaughtered in the schemes of the men around her. Devoted to her husband, her fascination and admiration of him is barely different from her father's hatred and suspicion of him -- racially motivated.
