James Carver Character Analysis

The main character of “The Americans.” James is an African-American Vietnam War veteran who flew a B-52 (a plane that drops bombs). Carver and his wife, Michiko, go to visit their daughter Claire, who now lives in Vietnam and teaches English. Carver, who never liked Vietnam, is confused as to why Claire would want to live there. He sees this decision as another one of Claire’s rebellions, as many of her biggest decisions have been in defiance of his opinions. For Carver, the trip helps him to realize that Claire is an adult who can make her own decisions, and that she truly feels closer to Vietnamese culture than she does to his own, or his wife’s Japanese culture. Carver is frustrated, however, when Claire takes him to the de-mining site where her boyfriend, Khoi Legaspi, is developing a robot that helps with de-mining. When she argues that he’s trying to undo some of the bad things that Carver did during the war, Carver is outraged. Carver’s character offers a different perspective from many of the stories that come before. Having direct involvement in the Vietnam War, he serves as a demonstration of the scars that people who fought in the war left on the country and its people.