Several of the figures that appear in these tales are innocents; of these some become victims, others victimizers. The Gutre family in "The Gospel According to Mark" are touched and moved by Christ's sacrifice to such an extent that they wish to ennoble the person who teaches them about it by crucifying him. In "The Intruder" two brothers, without premeditation, fall in love with the same woman. After little discussion, and less soul-searching, they kill her.

A social world is recreated in these tales, at least to a greater degree than in other Borgesian collections. On the whole, it is inhabited by fairly unimportant or even insignificant individuals: a young medical student, a pair of cattle drivers, a poor widow, a lower middle class Jewish youngster, an elderly lady. They are neither everyman nor archetypes; they are simply people whose experiences might enlighten readers.