style - Multiple characters without names: how to address

First off, the answer might be pretty much obvious (that there is no clear way to distinguish these characters) but I would still very much like to have perspectives (and perhaps even get an answer).

I am in the habit of writing short stories without naming any of my characters. Often I run into trouble because there are multiple (let us say) male characters and there is no way I can distinguish between "he" and the other "he".

For example,

He saw them again. They had moved to the center of the dance floor, almost still. Couples danced all around her, the faster ones to the outside, the slower ones towards the inner side. Yet in the center, he could only see them. She was flushed. Her hands rested on his shoulders, just the way they rested on his when she was tired after taking a walk. “You are fickle, my dear” he whispered to himself, a harsh smile on his face, his eyes cold yet loving. He could never hate her. He only had love for her. A while back when she had passed him, on her way to the dance, he had smelled her perfume. The sweet overpowering smell that he had always loved. The only smell in the world that consumed him. A smell he could never drive out of his mind. That had been the only moment when his hands shook a little, the ice in the glass making a slight “clink”. She had not noticed, of course, her hands in his, walking away as admiring eyes followed them.

Now in this case there are two characters. The first "he" who is seeing everything while the other "he" who is with the lady. In this case the confusion might not be so apparent however there often are situations when the reader might get confused as to who is being referred.

My question is: is there any way I could distinguish the characters without significantly altering the writing style? One possibility that strikes me is the use of capitalization for one of the characters ("He" vs "he"). I seem to recall a few stories that have done something similar. What else could be done? Thanks!

Answer

You have to identify them somehow. Use adjectives.

• The tall man vs. the short man


• The older man vs. the younger man



• The long-haired man vs. the man with the thistle-down hair


• The carpenter vs. the electrician


• The French man vs. the German man

It may get repetitive to say "her hands rested on the carpenter's shoulders, just they way they rested on the electrician's when she were tired after talking a walk," but that's pretty much what you're stuck with.