Japanese by Spring: Analysis of Major Characters
"Japanese by Spring: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the complexities of identity and cultural navigation through its diverse cast, particularly focusing on the character of Benjamin "Chappie" Puttbutt III. Chappie, an African American academic in a neoconservative role, wrestles with internal contradictions as he distances himself from the Black consciousness of the 1960s in pursuit of professional advancement. His journey reflects the struggles faced by individuals attempting to uphold their integrity amidst societal pressures. The narrative also features Ishmael Reed, a middle-aged writer and social critic, who serves as a sardonic commentator and embodies a genuine multicultural experience contrasting with other characters' self-serving agendas.
Chappie's father, General George Eliott Puttbutt, represents a tough warrior archetype, while Dr. Yamato, his Japanese tutor, reveals the political complexities within Japanese culture. Other notable figures include Charles Obi, the pragmatic chair of the Black Studies program, and Jack Milch, a hypocritical department chair who uses social causes for personal gain. The interplay of these characters highlights themes of survival, identity, and the often conflicting nature of personal and professional ambitions in a late twentieth-century American context. The narrative ultimately invites readers to reflect on the broader implications of cultural interactions and individual choices within a diverse society.
Japanese by Spring: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Ishmael Reed
First published: 1993
Genre: Novel
Locale: Oakland, California
Plot: Social satire
Time: Early 1990's
Benjamin “Chappie” Puttbutt III, named for two of the most celebrated African American soldiers in the history of the United States by his father, who is a high-ranking career Army man. He is approaching middle age as an untenured faculty member at a large public college. To advance his career, he has chosen a neoconservative academic position and a pacifist approach to conflict; both stances are at odds with his inner nature and upbringing. By rejecting the black consciousness of the 1960's and by choosing to study Japanese to be in touch with the latest trends in global power flows, Puttbutt has denied so much of what he instinctively feels that he has essentially lost any true center of being. He recognizes that he is a loner, sees himself as a survivor, and is pleased that he is capable of resisting his impulses to retaliate with justification when he is insulted, belittled, betrayed, or scorned. His endless rationalizations are an indication that all of his posturing has failed to satisfy some fundamental human needs. Although he is often the focus of the author's satire, with his shifting and calculating, he has an instinctive decency, a very able mind, a solid grasp of his discipline, and a reflective temperament that make him a sympathetic character as well. He stands for the African American man who is forced to adjust to the social realities of late twentieth century America and the weight of American history while attempting to maintain some sense of integrity and self-respect.
Ishmael Reed, who is described as a “modest merchant” who provides “quality literature and videodramas” for society. He is a middle-aged African American writer, community activist, and social critic resembling the author of the novel in many ways. He lives in Oakland, where Puttbutt works at Jack London College, and functions as an observer of the action and occasional narrator in the early stages of the novel. He gradually becomes more involved in conversations with Puttbutt and then is engaged actively in the narrative as an experienced, sardonic commentator providing another perspective for the omniscient “author” who shares his sensibility. As the novel moves toward a kind of resolution, Puttbutt leaves the foreground of the narrative action and Reed's spiritual quest replaces Puttbutt's frantic calculations as the central motif. He stands for a genuine multicultural experience as opposed to the narrow, self-serving, exploitative agendas of many of the characters.
George Eliott Puttbutt, a two star general, Chappie's father. This tough-minded warrior sees life as a constant battle and thrives on combative confrontations with racists. His affection for his son is mixed with disdain for Chappie's choices.
Dr. Yamato, Puttbutt's tutor in the Japanese language. He is an arch conservative in Japanese politics working for the restoration of the Tokogawa regime. He becomes the president of Jack London College temporarily.
Charles Obi, the chair of the black studies program at Jack London College, a candid careerist and realist who understands the vicissitudes of life for an African American professional. He struggles to suppress his justifiable anger while attempting to keep the black studies program viable in a hostile setting and protect his own interests from various adver-saries.
Jack Milch, the chair of the “humanity” department at Jack London College. He seems committed to many worthwhile social causes but actually is a complete hypocrite whose interest in African Americans is merely a strategy for self-advancement and whose commitment to “humanity” in the abstract is belied by his imprisonment of his wife and child in a cellar.
Robert Hurt, the dean of humanity at Jack London College, an idealist and aging hippie with a mind-set constructed from liberal 1960's slogans. He believes, to some extent, what he is professing but is also ruled by an agenda of self-advancement.
Jingo Miller, the Japanese-born wife of one of Puttbutt's professors at the Air Force Academy. She is the true love of Puttbutt's life, a woman of wit, culture, and beauty whose brief relationship with him is the source of his decision to choose pacifism as a philosophy of existence.
Professor Crabtree, a classical Eurocentric scholar patterned slightly after writer Saul Bellow. His serious study of traditional literary scholarship does not prevent him from applying himself to the Yoruba language and demonstrating his genuine will to learn by achieving a mastery of its intricate tonal patterns.