Secretary of a municipal library in Buenos Aires, of dual German-Argentine lineage, who identifies romantically with his Argentine heritage and is drawn into a knife fight after illness and a journey south.

Maternal grandfather; soldier of the 2nd Infantry of the Line, killed by Catriel's Indians on the Buenos Aires frontier.

Ancient, timeless-seeming man lying on the floor of the country store; Dahlmann reads him as a symbol of the South and he ultimately tosses Dahlmann a dagger.

Rough man with coarse Indian-like features who pelts Dahlmann with bread, hurls insults, and issues the knife-fight challenge.

Owner of the country store who attempts to defuse the confrontation and identifies Dahlmann by name.