Rami Elhanan is one of the two main characters in the story. Rami is an Israeli Jewish man, who is a graphic designer, married to Nurit, and the father of Smadar. He served in the Israeli army during the Yom Kippur War, where he supplied ammunition to tanks and assisted injured soldiers and removed dead ones from the battlefield. He lived a life of domestic equilibrium, favoring a traditional home life until his daughter Smadar is killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber in 1997 at the age of 13. This event shatters his life.

Rami’s trajectory throughout the novel is one of acceptance, healing, and community betterment, though this comes only after passing through extreme hate and violent thoughts. McCann details Rami’s acceptance of his daughter’s death over time and his healing from this event. Part of this healing is done through his dedication to the Parent’s Circle group (a group for those who have lost children) and his effort touring the world with Bassam giving lectures about the need to find common ground and search for the humanity in people commonly viewed as enemies, such as Israelis and Palestinians.

The central relationship between the two men, which makes up the novel’s main through line, functions for McCann as emblematic of the potential for unity among all the violence and hatred in the world.