The Husband: He is the main narrator and observer of the story. At the beginning, he appears as an ordinary, working, and practical man. When his wife begins to change, he becomes confused but fails to understand her inner world. He loves her, but his love is confined within habit and control. His wife’s transformation into a tree appears to him as a strange mixture of reality, fear, wonder, and emptiness. By the end of the story, even after her death and the birth of the fruits, he sinks into a kind of hollow calmness. His character symbolizes human ignorance, isolation, and late realization.

The Wife: She is the central character of the story who gradually transforms into a tree. At first, she is quiet, gentle, and lonely. Within the monotony of city life, the bondage of marriage, and emotional suppression, she begins to lose her sense of self. The bluish bruises on her body, her loss of appetite, and sleeplessness express her inner pain. Finally, she unites with nature and frees her body and soul. Her transformation into a tree symbolizes self-liberation and rebirth. Symbolically, she represents womanhood, nature, and the freedom of the soul.

The Mother: In the final part of the story, she appears in her daughter’s memory as a silent but powerful symbol. The mother represents roots, warmth, and natural affection. Her scent, her sweater, and her memory become a refuge in the daughter’s inner world. At the moment of the wife’s transformation, the word “Mother” becomes a spiritual cry, a longing to return to the embrace of Mother Nature.

The Plant / Nature (Symbolic Character): Nature in this story is not a silent background; it acts as a living, symbolic character. It merges with the woman. It takes the form of her body and soul. The wife’s transformation into a tree is, in fact, the rebirth of nature, a new form of life that transcends human limits. The tree symbolically represents liberation, renewal, and eternal life.