Character Description1. Mr. Tom, Mr. Tom is an elderly gentleman who lives in the English countryside. He is quiet and keeps to himself. Over the course of the novel Mr. Tom changes and becomes a new person. With the outbreak of war he takes care of a young displaced person, Will. He and Tom quickly learn to care for each other. Will is placed in Tom's care with only the clothes on his back. Tom talks to Mrs. Henley, a local neighbor, and asks her if she would be so kind as to knit a sweater for Will. She replied, “You have to dress them,” but Mr. Tom was persistent and managed to get Will made a new thick shirt (18). Tom really cares for William and tries his best to take care of the baby. While Will is around him, Mr. Tom is not as deeply depressed about his wife and son, who are both gone. He is more sociable with the rest of the city and has a happier expression. When the young evacuee is sent home Tom becomes worried, when he goes to visit him he finds him in surprising health. He even breaks the law to take her frail body back to the countryside with him. Mr. Tom soon becomes Will's adoptive father, and towards the end of the novel Will notices something about Tom. "[He] noticed how old and vulnerable Tom looked" (317).2. Will BeechWill is a child who is taken from home and placed in the care of Mr. Tom. Just as Mr. Tom has changed throughout the story, so does Will.