The Pawnbroker Character Analysis

The pawnbroker is an old white man who claims to have paid $1,000 for Jackson’s grandmother’s powwow regalia, which was stolen from her 50 years ago. The pawnbroker immediately assumes that Jackson is lying about the regalia belonging to his family but isn’t surprised when Jackson proves it’s his with the yellow bead sewn into garment. The pawnbroker acts sympathetic and even admits that the right thing to do would be to give the regalia back to Jackson—but he claims he can’t shoulder the financial loss. When Rose of Sharon threatens to go to the police, the pawnbroker claims that he had no idea the regalia was stolen. The pawnbroker believes the “fairest” offer he can make Jackson is to sell it back for $999, give Jackson 24 hours to come up with the money, and give $20 to get him started. At the end of the story when Jackson returns to the pawnshop with just five dollars, the pawnbroker appears most concerned with whether Jackson worked hard for the money. When Jackson says yes, the pawnbroker offers up the regalia for free and admits that he doesn’t want Jackson’s money. Jackson is dejected because he was invested in truly winning it back, but the pawnbroker assures him that he did win it back. For this, Jackson praises the pawnbroker as one of the many great men in this world—though, really, the regalia rightfully belonged to Jackson all along.