Manjiro shuddered. These were certainly barbarians if they killed animals to make shoes! Such a thing was against the law in Jap
an. Eleven eyes. When at last he dared to look up, what he noticed was their eyes. Each pair a different color: green as a stormy sea, blue as the sky, black as night, or brown as his own. One man had only one eye, and that one as gray as a cloudy day. The other eye was covered with a patch.
There did not seem to be any tails, horns, or fangs among them. There were some alarmingly hairy faces and plenty of big noses, though!
—Heart of a Samurai,
Margi Preus
Read the passage. What does it help you understand about how Manjiro’s character has developed?
The passage shows that Manjiro is thinking more independently than he did at the beginning of the story. He is not as influenced by the fears and ideas common in his culture; instead, he recognizes that the "barbarians" on the ship are simply people just like him.
His character developed by realizing that these people that had killed animals to make shoes were not barbarians or monsters, but normal people just like Manjiro himself. This realization shows that Manjiro is beginning to understand these new people, be less afraid, and not be so harshly judgmental of new experiences.
