The Young Man is the story’s protagonist, a tortured soul who lost Norma, the love of his life, 10 years earlier. King’s portrayal of the young man as an unnamed “everyman” initially misdirects the reader to assume a common humanity with the character based on the experience of young love. The character’s anonymity also emphasizes his ability to disappear into the streets of New York, and contrasts with the specificity of his named love. While the young man is an everyman who turns out to be an individual capable of great evil, Norma is abstracted in the opposite way: She is a specific young woman whose identity is misapplied to all of the young man’s victims.

The protagonist represents the juxtaposition of good and evil in all of humanity. First, he embodies The Joy of Young Love. As he walks the spring streets of New York, everyone he encounters feels part of his quest to meet Norma. For the older onlookers, he represents Nostalgia for the past as he triggers their memories of first love. No one witnesses the young man commit a brutal murder.