The Innocent characters

Appears from the start

A young British Post Office technician sent to divided Berlin in the mid-1950s for his first important foreign assignment. Socially inexperienced and eager to prove himself, he has been recruited to install communications equipment for a secret Anglo-American intelligence operation.

Also known as Bob

Appears from the start

The confident American intelligence officer who supervises Leonard's security and introduces him to the rules of the joint operation. Friendly and worldly, he also represents the American control that irritates some of the British participants.

First appears in chapter 2

The senior British scientist overseeing Leonard's technical work. He resents American dominance of the project and encourages Leonard to report privately on American equipment and methods, placing the young technician between allied services.

First appears in chapter 5

A German woman rebuilding her life in postwar Berlin after a failed marriage. Self-possessed and more experienced than Leonard, she meets him at a bar and responds patiently to his awkwardness without surrendering her independence.

First appears in chapter 8

Maria's former husband. He is largely absent when Leonard first learns of him, but the history of the marriage and the possibility of his return remain sources of unease.

First appears in chapter 4

A British colleague in Berlin who helps introduce Leonard to the expatriate social world around the operation. His ease with drinking and conversation emphasizes Leonard's initial inexperience.