Who are the main characters of the story "If I Forget Thee, O Earth..." by Arthur C. Clarke?

The main characters of Arthur C. Clarke's story "If I Forget Thee, O Earth..." are Marvin and his father. In the story, Marvin and his father are revealed to be living on the moon. When Marvin sees an "earthrise" for the first time, he can see the glow from the radioactivity on the side of the earth that would normally be in the shadows. His father explains to him that earth had been destroyed by nuclear war and that, aside from the colony of people living on the moon, there are no humans left.

While he has heard much of this before, for Martin, viewing the earthrise makes all of this information hit home. He is saddened by the fact that he will never be able to walk on or experience the earth again and makes the realization that the earth will not be able to be visited, let alone inhabited, for many generations. He now understands that the struggle for the survival of the human race rests on the lunar colony.