The sailor in the yellow overalls is a crew member on the smuggler’s ship and an antagonist of Jamal and the other children. Jamal and Bibi first meet him while trying to get help for Omar, who is drowning in the water. Instead of helping them, however, he hits Jamal and throws Bibi into the water. Though he pulls them out before they drown, the man remains an enemy throughout the rest of their journey on the boat, denying them food and demanding money from them. Bibi in particular hates him, calling him a “selfish camel-snot,” though by the end of the story she feels more sympathetically towards him.