| Sidi |
Abbas | One of Issa's brothers. |
| Salah |
Abdeslam | A Belgian-born French terrorist. |
| Abd |
al-Qadir | An Algerian military leader. |
| Shakaib |
Arslan | A Lebanese writer, poet, historian, and politician. |
| Gabriel |
Audisio | An author. |
| Aimé |
Barelli | A French jazz trumpeter. |
| Larbi |
Ben M'hidi | An Algerian revolutionary. |
| Malek |
Bennabi | An Algerian writer and philosopher. |
| Simon |
Benyamin | One of Jean-Christophe Lamy's henchmen. |
| Mohamed |
Boudiaf | Former President of Algeria. |
| Albert |
Camus | A French philosopher and novelist. |
| Émilie |
Cazenave | Jonas' acquaintance. |
| Madame |
Cazenave | The wife of the governor of a penal colony in Guyana. |
| Paul |
Cézanne | Michel's grandfather. |
| Edmond |
Charlot | A French publisher and editor. |
| Frederic |
Chopin | A Polish composer. |
| Winston |
Churchill | Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. |
| Xavier |
Cugat | A Spanish-American musician and bandleader. |
| Gustave |
Cusset | Jonas' old classmate. |
| Jeanne |
d'Arch | A French peasant girl. |
| Charles |
de Gaulle | General and former President of France. |
| Abd |
el-Krim | Former President of the Republic of the Rif. |
| Lalla |
Fatna | Jonas' great-grandmother. |
| Errol |
Flynn | An Australian-American actor. |
| Max-Pol |
Fouchet | A French author. |
| Messali |
Hadj | An Algerian nationalist politician. |
| Messali |
Hadj | An Algerian politician. |
| Jacques |
Hélian | A French conductor. |
| Uncle |
Jabori | An old bald man. |
| Jaime |
Jiménez Sosa | Owner of one of the largest farms in the area. |
| Mustapha |
Khalfi | A Moroccan professional basketball player. |
| Madame |
Lambert | A bookshop owner. |
| Jean-Christophe |
Lamy | A man deeply in love with Isabelle. |
| Madame |
Lamy | Jean-Christophe's mother. |
| Hélène |
Lefèvre | A journalist. |
| Luis |
Miguel Dominquin | A Spanish bullfighter. |
| Glenn |
Miller | An American conductor. |
| El |
Moro | An ex-con who had spent seventeen years in prison. |
| Pérez |
Prado | A Cuban pianist and composer. |
| Sy |
Rachid | A prominent figure in the Algerian Resistance. |
| Abane |
Ramdane | An Algerian political activist and revolutionary. |
| Emmanuel |
Roblès | A French author and playwright. |
| Franklin |
Roosevelt | The 32nd U.S. President. |
| Pépé |
Rucillio | The richest man in Río Salado. |
| Fabrice |
Scamaroni | One of Jean-Christophe Lamy's henchmen. |
| Madame |
Scamaroni | Fabrice Scamaroni's mother. |
| Dinah |
Shore | An American singer and actress. |
| Joseph |
Stalin | Former Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. |
| John |
Steinbeck | An American writer. |
| Diana |
the Huntress | The Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon, nature, and childbirth. |
| Abdelkader |
| One of Jonas' classmates. |
| Abdelmoumène |
| One of Issa's brothers. |
| Abdessamad |
| Hardworking brother of Issa. |
| André |
| Jaime Jiménez Sosa's son. Aka: Dede |
| Antonio |
| A cabaret singer in Sidi Bel-Abbès. |
| Badra |
| A hefty, strapping woman who loved to tell dirty stories. |
| Batoul |
| A girl who claimed to have supernatural powers. |
| Bedouin |
| Predominantly nomadic Arab tribes. |
| Bernadette |
| Jonas' acquaintance. |
| Berthe |
| Costa's wife. |
| Bertrand |
| Germaine's nephew. |
| Bliss |
| A broker. |
| Brahim |
| One of Jonas' classmates. |
| Bruno |
| A policeman. |
| Costa |
| A driver. Aka: Coco. |
| Daho |
| A savage child. |
| Germaine |
| Mahi's wife. |
| Hadda |
| A beautiful woman who already had two children. |
| Hassan |
| Issa's brother who liked to live like a lord. |
| Icarus |
| A figure in Greek mythology, the son of Daedalus. |
| Isabelle |
| Pépé Rucillio's niece. |
| Issa |
| Zahra's father. |
| Jamila |
| A Muslim lawyer's daughter. |
| Jelloul |
| Andre's manservant. |
| Jérôme |
| Lucette's father. |
| Joe |
| Andre's friend. |
| Jonas |
| Renamed given to Younes. |
| José |
| Andre's cousin. |
| Kaddour |
| The eldest among the brothers. |
| Karcabo |
| A troop of black men bedecked with amulets who danced like demons. |
| Krimo |
| Simon's chauffeur. |
| Laoufi |
| A nurse. |
| Lucette |
| Jonas' friend. |
| Mahi |
| Issa's brother. |
| Mama |
| A woman who had the energy of a dozen men. |
| Martine |
| Michel's wife. |
| Maurice |
| A stupid, brutish boy. |
| Mélina |
| Costa's cousin. |
| Michel |
| Madame Cazenave's grandson. |
| Miloud |
| A merchant. |
| Norah |
| Jonas' granddaughter. |
| Ouari |
| An orphan or runaway, friend of the protagonist. |
| Peg-Leg |
| A shopkeeper. |
| Slimane |
| Born a Christian to a wealthy, educated French family. |
| Yezza |
| A woman whose alcoholic husband regularly hit her. |
| Younes |
| The protagonist, an Algerian boy torn between his native Arab roots. |
| Zahra |
| The younger sister of the protagonist. |
