Robert Childan
Robert Childan, proprietor of American Artistic Handcrafts Inc. on Montgomery Street in San Francisco, is a thirty-eight-year-old white American living under Japanese rule in the Pacific States of America. His store sells pre-war American artifacts—Civil War recruiting posters, Colt revolvers, Mickey Mouse wristwatches—to wealthy Japanese collectors who prize these remnants of a defeated nation. Childan's entire existence is defined by this trade: he must bow to Japanese customers, endure deliberate insults like Mr. Tagomi's mispronunciation of his name, and suppress his resentment to maintain the goodwill on which his business depends. His anxieties and aspirations are laid bare in his interactions, as he oscillates between self-abasement and a desperate pride in his merchandise, which he believes represents the best of American culture.
Identity and Introduction
Childan is introduced as a man anxiously awaiting a shipment from the Rocky Mountain States, a delay that threatens to anger his important customer, Mr. Tagomi. His store, American Artistic Handcrafts Inc., is described as "spick and span" with marigolds and background music, but his inner turmoil is evident: he feels he is "falling into some distant sea" when Tagomi's call exposes his helplessness. He remembers the prewar days of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the World's Fair as a "former better world," and his nostalgia is both personal and national. His identity is tied to his role as a dealer in "historic objects," a profession that gives him a semblance of dignity but also forces him to confront his subservient position. He is acutely aware of the "place" hierarchy, where Japanese are at the top, whites like himself are beneath them, and blacks and other minorities are at the bottom. This awareness shapes his every action, from his careful bowing to his refusal to carry his own bags lest a slave see him.
Life and Plot Trajectory
Childan's life is a series of humiliations and small triumphs. He endures Tagomi's condescension, sells a Mickey Mouse watch to a visiting German, and is deceived by a fake admiral's gentleman who exposes a Colt .44 as a forgery, nearly ruining his reputation. He later discovers the forgery came from his wholesaler, Ray Calvin, and confronts him, receiving restitution. His social life is equally fraught: he is invited to dinner by the young Japanese couple Paul and Betty Kasoura, where he makes a fool of himself by arguing politics and expressing racist views, only to realize the depth of his own subjugation. He is visited by the Kempeitai, who get him to sign a statement identifying Frank Frink as a Jew, leading to Frink's arrest. Throughout, Childan's trajectory is one of gradual awakening to the reality of his situation, culminating in his embrace of Edfrank Custom Jewelry, a line of contemporary American-made pieces that he sees as a new beginning.
Key Actions and Objectives
Childan's primary objective is to survive and prosper in a world where his nation has lost. He seeks to please Japanese customers, cultivate relationships with influential figures like the Kasouras, and maintain his store's reputation as the finest source of American artifacts. His actions are often driven by fear and self-interest: he signs the Kempeitai's paper without fully reading it, he considers selling the Edfrank designs to an importer for mass-produced good-luck charms, and he schemes to give a piece of jewelry to Betty Kasoura as a gift, hoping to gain her favor. Yet he also shows moments of integrity, as when he rejects the importer's offer and declares his pride in the American artisans who made the jewelry. His decision to stock the Edfrank pieces, despite their lack of historicity, marks a turning point in his thinking, as he begins to see the potential for a new American art that is not dependent on the past.
Relationships and Conflict
Childan's relationships are defined by the power imbalance between Japanese and whites. With Mr. Tagomi, he is deferential and anxious, enduring the older man's fussy demands and deliberate insults. With the Kasouras, he is initially hopeful of social acceptance, but his own prejudices and inability to understand their culture lead to conflict. He is particularly drawn to Betty Kasoura, imagining a romantic connection that he knows is impossible. His relationship with Frank Frink is indirect but significant: Frink's forged Colt .44 nearly destroys Childan's business, and Childan's identification of Frink as a Jew leads to Frink's arrest. Childan's conflict with himself is perhaps the most profound: he struggles with his own racism, his desire for acceptance, and his fear of being exposed as a fraud. His internal monologue reveals a man torn between admiration for Japanese culture and resentment of their dominance.
Change and Ending
Childan undergoes a significant change over the course of the novel. Initially, he is a man who believes in the "historicity" of his artifacts, but the Colt .44 incident shakes his faith. He begins to question the authenticity of his entire stock and the value of the past. His encounter with Paul Kasoura, who praises the Edfrank jewelry for its "wu" and urges Childan to take moral responsibility for it, forces him to confront his own complicity in the commodification of American culture. He rejects the importer's offer to mass-produce the designs as good-luck charms, declaring his pride in the artisans. By the end, he is a changed man: he has found a new purpose in promoting contemporary American art, and he even tries to convert Mr. Tagomi to his belief in the "new life" of his country. His final act is to sell a silver triangle to Tagomi, a piece that Tagomi carries with him as a talisman. Childan's journey from a dealer in dead relics to a champion of living art is a testament to his resilience and his capacity for growth.
Narrative Role and Evaluation
Childan serves as a lens through which the novel explores the themes of place, historicity, and cultural identity. His perspective, as a white American under Japanese rule, provides a unique vantage point on the power dynamics of the alternate history. He is a complex character, neither wholly sympathetic nor wholly contemptible, whose flaws and virtues are laid bare in his interactions. His story arc mirrors the novel's larger concerns with the nature of authenticity and the possibility of renewal. Through Childan, the novel asks whether a defeated nation can find a new identity, and whether the past can be transcended. His eventual embrace of the Edfrank jewelry suggests a tentative hope for the future, even as the world around him remains dominated by the Axis powers. Childan is thus not merely a character but a symbol of the human capacity to adapt and to find meaning in the face of overwhelming odds.
