Character Clues

Character Analysis

Actions

Since the narrator is sitting up there on that cedar branch (see "Narrative Point of View"), looking down on events and people without offering a lot of judgment, we kind of have to turn to what the characters themselves say and do to get a handle on who they are.

For example, Ishmael tells us tons about himself and his psychological state when he goes looking for evidence relevant to the Miyamoto trial and then deciding, when he finds it, to withhold it:

His father, of course, would have gone hours earlier directly to Lew Fielding in order to show him the coast guard shipping lane records for the night of September 15. But not Ishmael, not now—no. Those records would stay in his pocket. Tomorrow he would write the article she wanted him to write, in order to make her beholden to him, and then in the trial's aftermath he would speak with her as one who had taken her side and she would have no choice but to listen. That was the way, that was the method. Sitting by himself in the cold of his old bedroom, her letter held uneasily in his hand, he began to imagine it. (24.74)

With this incident, we get a sense that Ishmael really doesn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his tush (to paraphrase the immortal words of Ouiser from Steel Magnolias). Why go looking for evidence if he's not going to do anything with it? Probably because he's miserable and befuddled in the wake of everything he's been through, but still.

Also: seriously, he was going to 1) let Kabuo go to jail (and perhaps get executed) for a crime he didn't commit and then 2) use the opportunity to move in on Kabuo's wife? That's pretty crummy. Luckily, Ishmael comes to his senses and eventually does the right thing, but his moral wavering there really affirms his own contention that he's not very much like is father, in that he doesn't really have a strong moral compass these days.

Speech and Dialogue

Psychologists and relationship counselors like to say that people are pretty good at telling you who they actually are—you just need to be listening. That's true in books as well, and Etta Heine and her husband are prime examples.

Take, for example, an argument the couple has when Carl Sr. is considering selling seven acres of his property to Zenhichi Miyamoto. In the exchange, Carl Sr. reveals himself as fair-minded and inclined to resist prejudice:

"Now," said Carl, "to me it don't make one bit of difference which way it is their eyes slant. I don't give a damn 'bout that, Etta. People is people, comes down to it. And these are clean-living people. Nothing wrong with them. So the question is, do we want to sell?" (9.32)

Etta, by contrast, is stubborn, passive aggressive, mean-spirited, and definitely prejudiced against the Japanese, so she is totally disgusted with her husband's willingness to consider the sale: 

"Well," she said to Carl now, folding her arms in the kitchen doorway, where she knew she would have the last word. "You're the man of the house, you wear the pants, go ahead and sell our property to a Jap and see what comes of it." (9.35)

This is pretty much textbook passive aggressiveness. She calls him the "man of the house" while clearly undermining his perspective (and ensuring she gets the last word). On top of the marital warfare, her use of the word "Jap," a nasty slur against the Japanese (which she uses liberally throughout the story, by the way), speaks to her deep-seated prejudices.

So, you probably get the point: this dialogue highlights huge differences between husband and wife. Carl is a pretty nice guy, and Etta... is not (nice, or a guy).

Thoughts and Opinions

Continuing with Etta and Carl as an example, Etta's thoughts about Carl flesh out our picture of him as a nice guy (even if that is not the meaning that Etta takes away in her own thoughts). Reflecting on her husband's friendliness toward the various groups and people she shuns, Etta notes that Carl "[s]tood around evenings up at the pickers' cabins jawing with the Japs and taking pains with the Indians, watching the women weave sweaters and such, drawing the men out on the subject of the old days before the strawberry farms went in" (9.33). Much to Etta's dismay, Carl was friendly to everyone, even the people that she thought should be avoided. The quote tells us a lot about both of them, actually, no?