Matilda is the POV protagonist of the story. In the story Matilda is shown to be a nice person, as seen in page 161 when she finds Nell and tries to help her. She is also ambitious as seen when she tries to buy the lot next door to expand the coffeehouse. After the Yellow Fever comes she has to leave to the farm with her grandfather, which makes her upset. Some character development that happens throughout the story is that at the beginning Matilda isn't very confident about her abilities (as seen in page 148 when Grandfather dies so she doesn't know what to do and in page 182 when she doesn't know if she has to give Nell away) but towards the end of the book that changes. This is shown when in page 224 she makes a partnership deal with Eliza and in page 185 when she decides to keep Nell.
Throughout the book, Grandfather is seen as a nice person by Matilda. He was a Soldier in the American Revolution and he likes to talk about his accomplishments. As a character, he performs 3 tasks: To contrast in personality to Mother, to present an opposing viewpoint throughout the section where Matilda and Grandfather go to the farm, and to make readers sad when he dies. As a character, he performs these roles relatively well, although it is really sad when he dies. Some character traits are that he is cheerful as seen throughout the story but said by Matilda on page 149 and He is brave as seen on page 145 when he tries to attack the robbers.
Eliza is a part of the Free African Society. At first, she is working at the coffeehouse, but after the Yellow Fever epidemic comes, Dr. Benjamin Rush tells the Free African Society that they are immune to the fever and they should help people who have the fever to prevent the spread. The Free African Society agrees because this will bring respect to the Africans if it works. However there was a problem, the Africans were not immune even though they had a resistance towards it. Matilda comments that she saw some Africans who were affected by the disease. Throughout the story, Eliza is shown to be Matilda's best friend and it is mentioned on page 9. At the end of the book, Matilda makes a partnership deal with Eliza, so that they share the profit from the coffeehouse.
Throughout the story Mother is shown to be strict. This is seen on page 6 she says that too much sleep isn't healthy and on page 7 where she says that gambling is only allowed if she doesn't have to see it. She also undergoes character development but it is mostly not seen by the POV. The character development is at first she doesn't believe Matilda should make her own decisions, but during the end this viewpoint changes. This is shown in page 22 when she doesn't let Matilda do the dishes and says Polly can do it but after realizing Polly is dead she just decides to do it herself. This is also seen in page 16 where she doesn't let Matilda go to Polly's funeral. However, towards the end of the story, Mother lets Matilda make her own decisions, as seen in page 237 when she comes back, she lets Matilda keep her partnership deal to share the coffeehouse with Eliza instead of selling it.
During the story, Nathaniel doesn't appear a lot. In the beginning of the story, He is sneaky as seen when he steals an apple from Matilda when she goes to the market. When the Yellow fever comes he stays inside of Mr. Peale's house. They eat Mr. Peale's animal collection to survive. During the middle of the story, he throws flowers down from the window of Mr. Peale's house. Towards the end of the book Nathaniel comes back outside and steals another apple, commenting that he will always continue to do so.