Character Clues

Character Analysis

Thoughts and Opinions

The book doesn't tell us "Childan is a racist." It shows us Childan's racist thoughts. For instance, when Childan thinks of the Japanese, he thinks, "They don the dress but they're like monkeys dolled up in the circus" (7.105). That's kind of an incredibly racist thought.

Speech and Dialogue

Childan may be prejudiced against the Japanese, but he sure does talk a lot like them—which shows us that his racism is complicated with his envy. For instance, Paul Kasoura notes that most people don't care about jazz: "No interest in authentic American folk jazz, as example" (7.58). Many of the Japanese characters speak in that shortened style, dropping a few words that people who speak English as their first language might include. And here's Robert Childan's response: "Afraid I know little about Negro music" (7.59), which matches that shortened style that Paul uses.

Social Status

Childan is a white man, which puts him a little lower than Japanese in San Francisco, but higher than blacks (who the Nazis have either re-enslaved or killed off) and Jews (who don't get to be slaves). And we can see in his attitude how careful he is about this social status—he's always worried about what other people think of him. For instance, when Childan goes to see Tagomi at his office, Childan thinks about how he can't carry his own packages in if there are lower class people around, because it would be humiliating to be seen doing his own work. Get that? He can't carry his own packages (he thinks), because he can't stand "to have those beneath see me, to feel their contempt" (2.55).

Actions

But, ultimately, Childan chooses to keep the Edfrank Jewelry free of exploitation, which nicely shows how he's changed from being envious at the beginning (see "Speech and Dialogue" above). And he pushes the jewelry on Tagomi as something of an equal, showing that he's gotten over some of his racist thoughts. We only see Childan at the end from Tagomi's POV, but Tagomi thinks something has changed in the way he behaves: Childan is still behaving correctly, "Yet, Mr. Tagomi felt the man today somehow different" (14.25). And then, instead of doing anything Tagomi tells him to do, Childan starts arguing with him and doesn't back down: "Mr. Childan did not cringe" (14.58) notes Tagomi—which means that, once upon a time, Childan would've cringed.