Heart of a Samurai Chapter 34 Summary

The Daguerreotype

  • Setting: October 1849, Fairhaven
  • Manjiro's still in Fairhaven.
  • He can't leave the Whitfields right now, not with the news about baby William.
  • One day, Terry comes by and gets Manjiro to go with him to this photographer—or really, this guy who does daguerreotypes (an early form of a photograph).
  • Terry's all into it because it's this amazing new technology.
  • He tells Manjiro that he's going to California for the gold rush and wants Manjiro to go with him.
  • Manjiro doesn't feel he can leave the Whitfields, but Terry tells him they'll be fine and that Manjiro is a man now; it's time to head out on his own.
  • The photographer, meanwhile, is trying to get Terry to shut up and be still—which Terry just can't do—so he offers Manjiro 1/half off on a daguerreotype if he can get Terry to be still.
  • Which Manjiro does.
  • At the same time, he's hatching a plan to get back to Japan via California and the gold rush.
  • They get their daguerreotypes back and Terry's is a blur, like he's already moving away.