The Island of Missing Trees Character Analysis

Kostas

Kostas is one of the novel’s protagonists. He was born in Cyprus, where he and Defne begin seeing each other when they are 18 and 17, respectively. Because Kostas is a Greek Christian while Defne… read analysis of Kostas

Ada

Ada is Kostas and Defne’s second child after Yusuf Yiorgos. Ada finds Defne’s body after Defne has taken pills, a suicide attempt from which she ultimately dies. In the opening pages of the… read analysis of Ada

Defne

Defne and Kostas begin a relationship in Cyprus when Defne is 17 and Kostas is 18. Because of rising tensions between the Turkish and Greek populations in Cyprus, Defne and Kostas keep their relationship a… read analysis of Defne

The Fig Tree

The fig tree is a tree in Kostas and Ada’s garden. That tree originates from a cutting of the fig tree in The Happy Fig, the tavern owned and operated by Yusuf and Yiorgos… read analysis of The Fig Tree

Meryem

Meryem is Defne’s sister. She is someone who relies on superstition to navigate the world. After Defne marries Kostas, Meryem promises her parents that she will cut off all contact with Defne and… read analysis of Meryem

Yusuf

Yusuf, along with his partner, Yiorgos, runs The Happy Fig, the tavern where Defne and Kostas meet in secret to maintain their relationship in the face of rising cross-cultural tension in Cyprus. Yusuf and… read analysis of Yusuf

Yiorgos

Yiorgos, along with his partner, Yusuf, runs The Happy Fig the tavern where Kostas and Defne meet in secret to maintain their relationship in the face of hostility toward cross-cultural relationships in Cyprus. Yiorgos… read analysis of Yiorgos

Yusuf Yiorgos

Yusuf Yiorgos is Defne and Kostas’s first child. He is named after Yusuf and Yiorgos, the proprietors of The Happy Fig. Defne gives Yusuf Yiorgos up for adoption, and he is raised by… read analysis of Yusuf Yiorgos

Panagiota

Panagiota is Kostas’s mother. She doesn’t understand the deep feeling and empathy that Kostas feels toward plants and animals, which makes Kostas feel alone in his family. After Panagiota finds out that Kostas is… read analysis of Panagiota

Michalis

Michalis is Kostas’s older brother who is portrayed as a thinker and a poet. One day, he is murdered on the street, but no one knows who killed him. Some suspect it might have… read analysis of Michalis

Andreas

Andreas is Kostas’s younger brother. He wants to achieve enosis, the union between Greece and Cyprus, no matter the cost. After his older brother, Michalis, is killed, Andreas is convinced Turks murdered him… read analysis of Andreas

Dr. Norman

Dr. Norman is a gynecologist in Cyprus. When Defne is pregnant in 1974, she goes to him for an abortion. Ultimately, Dr. Norman doesn’t perform the abortion after Defne decides to have the child and… read analysis of Dr. Norman

Selma

Selma is Defne and Meryem’s mother. She died 10 days before Meryem traveled to visit Ada and Kostas in the late 2010s. Meryem says she has not visited them sooner because she promised her… read analysis of Selma

Hristos

Hristos is Panagiota’s brother and Kostas’s uncle. Panagiota sends Kostas to live with Hristos in England in 1974 to try and spare him from the violence happening in Cyprus. Kostas thinks that he… read analysis of Hristos

David

David is a former colleague of Kostas. When Kostas returns to Cyprus in the early 2000s for the first time since 1974, he contacts David, who he thinks he might know Defne. David… read analysis of David

Minor Characters

Mrs. Walcott

Mrs. Walcott is Ada’s teacher who is teaching the class when Ada screams uncontrollably for close to a minute. She also gives the class an assignment over the winter break to complete an interview with a family member about migration, an interview that Ada does with Meryem.

The Island of Missing Trees Characters