He is kind, versatile, hardworking, talented and very mature for his age. He works systematically, he studies, he collects money and organizes an escape plan for his mother and himself. He thinks of all the odds, and how to cover their tracks. He follows a certain itinerary, and sets "smoke screens" in action, something that proves his intelligence and foresight. Jacob takes on a role that normally does not belong to him, just like many kids that live in the same situation like he does, who grow up in a family where abuse exists. He is a rare child who takes an even more rare decision: to change the "fate" of everyone around him, as well as his own. His decision to save his mother is based on emotional reasons. He loves her and admires her kindness, her patience and her sticking to her principles, unlike his father, from whom he has completely distanced himself emotionally and to whom he behaves coldly, even though deep inside he hates him.
Helen is a typical Greek housewife living in the countryside, faithful to traditional values, family and religion. She is particularly tolerant, with a gentle nature. She constantly gives another chance to her husband and endures the torment he puts her through, hoping that things will change, one day, and that he will again become the man she once loved. She does not have the courage to leave her family, because she believes that it is her duty to serve them. The entire responsibility for the financial support of this family, falls upon her shoulders, and she considers it her duty to not get rid of it, but be patient, even though she has by now far exceeded her own limits of strength. Trapped in her daily life, and terrorized by her husband, she cannot even conceive the possibility of escape. Her relationship to Jacob is a relationship based on mutual love and trust. Jacob, during these hard times, is her real support.
An addict to gambling and alcohol, a brute, a paranoid man, are just some of the words that can describe this character. He was not always that way. He had a tendency to drink and gamble, but as long as he had a job and was still in love with his wife, he found protection and love in the family, and these tendencies of his were controlled. The economic crisis, which resulted to unemployment and inertia for him, made the worse part of him come to the surface. They have made him soft and lazy, and have led him to the need to cover his own huge inner emptiness with games, gambling and drinking. However, the responsibility for this misery is solely his own. His need for money keeps growing constantly and he wants to have control over the money of the household, which Helen provides. Because he lives with his wife's money, he feels inferior to her. In an attempt to reaffirm his masculinity and gain the self-esteem, that he lost a long time ago, he uses violence against his wife to prove, mainly to himself, that she is a lesser person than he is. Towards Jacob, and his duties as a father, Emmanuel is totally indifferent. Jacob for Emmanuel is just an errand boy: the dutiful son who is not entitled to have an existence of his own, who is not allowed to talk back, who is not allowed to utter a single word.