The main character of the short story is the narrator; the events of the story are concentrated around him. His name is indicated as his friend Simon approaches him: “George!” The narrator is presented as an ordinary generalized image of a person. There is no information about the narrator provided except for the fact that he hasn’t seen his friend for 15 years. What’s more, the reader can guess that the narrator comes from Paris, where his friend Simon used to live before he’d got married. There is no information about physical appearance, though some traits of his character can be traced: he’s got sense of humour: “By Jove! You have not grown thin!"; he is tolerant towards his old friend at the sight of his house: “so that I might compliment him on it. "It is charming," I replied.”; he can’t stand the fact of humiliation over the old man, but tries not to sound impolite towards his friend: “I held my tongue, and thought over those words.”

Another protagonist is Simon Radevin, a friend of the narrator, of whom he “had lost sight for fifteen years”. The narrator gives a direct characterization to Simon: “At one time he was my most intimate friend, the friend who knows one's thoughts, with whom one passes long, quiet, happy evenings, to whom one tells one's secret love affairs, and who seems to draw out those rare, ingenious, delicate thoughts born of that sympathy that gives a sense of repose.”; “intelligent, clever young fellow”; “active, living and vibrating man”; “lively, witty, light-hearted and enthusiastic”. Such a description makes the reader assume that the two, the narrator and Simon have been bosom friends, who have been almost always together, “we had lived, travelled, thought and dreamed together”, their interests have been the same: “the same books”, “the same authors”; they shared the same sense of humour, laughing at “the same individuals. whom we understood completely by merely exchanging a glance”. But the state of things changes completely, when Simon suddenly marries on a girl from province and moves from Paris to a provincial town. When the narrator again meets his friend, he spots that he have become “a very stout man with red cheeks and a big stomach”; “broad face”. The reason of this change lies in his mode of living: “Good living, a good table and good nights! Eating and sleeping, that is my existence!” But the change is not only in his appearance, but in his character: “his eyes were bright, full of happiness and friendship, but they had not that clear, intelligent expression”; “I no longer see the same expression in them”. But Simon acquires more also in the family life, he has now 5 children and lives in a turreted house in the suburbs of the town. The narrator sees him as a “simple reproducer of his species”. His desire of becoming a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies becomes clear to the narrator and he pities him of such primitive desires as a compensation of him provincial life.

One more character is Simon’s wife, who is presented as a typical image of a provincial woman. In the memory of the narrator she appears “a little thin, insipidly fair girl with her weak hands, her light vacant eyes, and her clear, silly voice, who was exactly like a hundred thousand marriageable dolls”; “a good, tender and faithful woman”. Her image is attractive and it becomes clear why Simon falls in love with her and leaves Paris. Still she appears to be rather a practical woman, who in the search of a husband chooses the most appropriate candidate. Once she is achieved her goal, she is no longer a thin fair girl, but “a stout lady in curls and flounces.” She is a typical image of a woman, “one of those ladies of uncertain age, without intellect, without any of those things that go to make a woman.” Alongside with her husband, “a reproducer of his species”, she fulfills her role of a mother, “a stout, commonplace mother”, becoming “a human breeding machine which procreates without any other preoccupation but her children and her cook-book.” Hew function in the society is limited by her role of a mother and a cook.

One more protagonist is Madame Radevin’s grandfather, who is eighty-seven, a direct characterization of him is provided: “something trembling, a man, an old, paralyzed man”; “shaking old man’s ears”. He is the most pitiful creature in the house, everyone view him as a kind of an entertainment: “He is a treasure, that old man; he is the delight of the children. But he is so greedy that he almost kills himself at every meal; you have no idea what he would eat if he were allowed to do as he pleased. You never saw anything so funny; you will see presently.” Every restriction and every humiliation over the old man is supported by the idea that it is all done “for the good of his health”. For instance, the grandpa doesn’t want to eat soup, but he is forced to do it very violently, making the old man blow the food out, “that it was scattered like a spray all over the table and over his neighbors”. Such a view amuses the whole family, Simon makes a remark: "Is not the old man comical?" Than a question arises: How a miserable, helpless old thing can be treated with such disrespect and intolerance? The old man is not greedy in fact as it is mentioned a number of times, his only happiness lies in the process of eating, his functions in society are limited, he is no longer a lively man, but a poor old thing.