Duke

Duke is a young member of Jubal Harshaw’s household whose value lies less in public prominence than in the practical work and steady loyalty that hold the household together. He moves from welcoming Jill Boardman into its everyday life to becoming one of Valentine Michael Smith’s water brothers, a trusted ally whose absence is later difficult for Jubal to replace.

Identity and Place in the Household

Duke first appears at dinner among Harshaw’s household, slightly older than Larry and already at ease with Jill. He includes her in conversation as though she has always lived there, a small but telling gesture of welcome. When the women rise from the table after a brief exchange, he keeps eating, giving him an unceremonious presence amid the household’s shifting routines.

His relationship to the household is practical as well as social. Harshaw asks him to check whether an incident was captured on camera, and Duke is later described as careful when looking after someone in Harshaw’s care. The evidence presents him as trusted with both equipment and people, not merely as a visitor who happens to share the house.

Friendship with Smith

Duke initially stays apart from Smith’s immediate circle, but Harshaw urges him to approach Smith by sharing a glass of water and becoming his water brother. Duke chooses to remain, and Harshaw later confirms that Duke and Larry are water brothers to Smith. He characterizes them as companions who may not cook but can be relied upon in a difficult situation. The ceremony turns Duke’s friendliness into a declared bond of trust and mutual support.

Duke’s closeness to Smith appears in ordinary acts rather than speeches. Smith knows about Duke’s collection of pictures and is pleased to be called brother by him. When Jill firmly suggests that Smith give Duke a picture, Smith agrees and takes it to him. He has already looked through the collection with deep interest, even while trying to understand Duke’s human appreciation of a figure’s legs. The moment makes their bond tangible: Smith remembers what Duke likes, while the difference between their bodies and their ways of seeing remains something Smith must consciously learn to accept.

Duke is also among the people prepared to help Smith navigate life beyond Harshaw’s home. When Smith explains that he needs a guide because he still makes mistakes about how people act, he says that Duke and Larry are both willing to accompany him if Harshaw cannot spare one of the women. Jill is ultimately chosen, but Duke’s offer shows that his allegiance includes practical responsibility, not only ceremonial kinship.

Skills and Household Work

The household relies on Duke’s varied competence. He handles camera work, and later helps document Smith’s public appearance, taking pictures while Smith waits for him to change lenses. In another scene, Harshaw tells Duke to contact the desk, arrange the bill, and call for the group’s vehicle as they prepare to leave. These details give Duke a role in the logistical machinery of the household and its movements.

His mechanical ability becomes especially clear after he is no longer available to Harshaw. Harshaw contrasts Larry’s skill as a gardener with Duke’s capacity as an all-around mechanic, lamenting that the household’s devices and systems are failing and that suitable repairmen are hard to find. The complaint defines Duke’s contribution by its consequences: without him, routine breakdowns become costly, disruptive problems, and Harshaw even considers the prospect of moving back into town.

Duke’s domestic usefulness extends to cooking. Much later, in the household’s kitchen, he stands at the range stirring a small saucepan while arranging a large bus for a party that includes children and Patricia Paiwonski’s animals. Harshaw joins him at the stove and looks into the pan, which contains broth. This later image contrasts with the earlier teasing description of Duke and Larry as men who cannot cook: whatever the joke once implied, Duke is now plainly doing kitchen work as part of the community’s everyday care.

Humor, Departure, and Continuing Presence

Duke’s humor is practical and irreverent. During Smith’s brief military service, Smith’s platoon passes in review and the commanding general and his staff suddenly lose their trousers; the company’s top sergeant also falls when his shoes briefly stick to the ground. Harshaw attributes the pranks to Smith’s newly acquired, rather poor taste in jokes, but the episode places Duke in the wider circle of household companions around Smith’s development and mischief.

Duke’s absence later registers as a real loss to the household. Harshaw says he does not know how to replace him, emphasizing both the scarcity of mechanics and the difficulty of finding someone who can fit into the household as a family member. The remark captures Duke’s double importance: his labor is useful, but his belonging is not reducible to a job.

He nevertheless remains connected to the group’s later religious and communal life. During the Church of All Worlds’ public meetings, he is positioned behind a grille with access to the audience and helps Smith identify possible recruits by reporting where they are sitting. The recruitment system is organized into nine circles, and Duke’s discreet work supports Smith’s assessment of whom to invite further. In a later departure scene he appears in comic contrast to Anne’s formal Fair Witness cloak: Duke is sloppily dressed, with a cigarette, an old hat marked PRESS, and cameras and equipment hanging about him. He has taken photographs and waits while Smith changes lenses, joining the serious business of witnessing with an image of deliberate informality.

In the final household scenes represented here, Duke is once again at the range, helping organize transport and preparing broth before sharing water with the others at Harshaw’s invitation. His appearances trace a consistent pattern: he welcomes newcomers, uses his skills in service of the group, and treats Smith as kin. The novel’s evidence makes him important not through a single decisive speech, but through the dependable work and companionship that continue across the household, Smith’s public life, and the church community.