The Ugly American

by

Eugene Burdick and William J. Lederer

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Ugly American makes teaching easy.

The Ugly American Characters

Gilbert MacWhite

Gilbert MacWhite is Louis Sears’s successor as American Ambassador to Sarkhan. Unlike Sears, MacWhite is sharp, disciplined, and dedicated to his work, especially as it pertains to combating Communism in Sarkhan. However, when… read analysis of Gilbert MacWhite

Homer Atkins

Homer Atkins is an American engineer and inventor and the titular “ugly American” (since he is modest, unassuming, and works with his own hands). Atkins initially goes to Vietnam to consult for the government… read analysis of Homer Atkins

Louis Sears

Louis Sears is the first American Ambassador to Sarkhan in the story. Sears is a lifelong politician who becomes an ambassador after he loses his fourth political election. Although Sears works in the Foreign Service… read analysis of Louis Sears

James “Tex” Wolchek

Tex Wolchek is an American officer and decorated veteran of World War II and the Korean War. Tex travels to Vietnam to observe Major Monet and his Foreign Legionnaires in their fight against the Communists… read analysis of James “Tex” Wolchek

Thomas Knox

Thomas Knox is a chicken farmer from Iowa who spends several years in Cambodia trying to increase Cambodia’s egg output. Tom is outgoing, humble, and loves Cambodian food. He travels from village to village befriending… read analysis of Thomas Knox
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Monet

Major Monet is a French officer leading his Foreign Legionnaires against the Communists in Vietnam. Monet comes from a legendary military family and is a decorated commander, yet he consistently loses every battle he fights… read analysis of Monet

John Colvin

John Colvin is an American O.S.S. agent and a powdered milk businessman. As a special agent, Colvin helps rid Sarkhan of their Japanese oppressors. He befriends a Sarkhanese man named Deong and makes him his… read analysis of John Colvin

Louis Krupitzyn

Louis Krupitzyn is a Russian diplomat in Sarkhan and secret antagonist to Louis Sears. Krupitzyn demonstrates the total superiority of Russian diplomats over American diplomats in the story. Where Sears is unqualified and incompetent… read analysis of Louis Krupitzyn

Father Finian

Father Finian is a Catholic priest who fights Communist ideology in Burma. Finian is an expert on Communist thought and believes that it bears many similarities to religious zealotry. He moves to rural Burma and… read analysis of Father Finian

Edwin B. Hillandale

Colonel Hillandale, also known as the Rag-time Kid, is an American who spends several years in the Philippines and falls in love with their food, culture, language, and people. Hillandale is friendly to all and… read analysis of Edwin B. Hillandale

George Swift

George Swift is an American protocol officer in Sarkhan. George Swift does not understand how culturally important astrology is to the Sarkhanese. When Colonel Hillandale reads palms during a formal dinner with Sarkhanese heads… read analysis of George Swift

Prince Ngong

Prince Ngong is a Sarkhanese intellectual and protocol minister, making him one of the few named Sarkhanese officials in the story. Prince Ngong states that Sarkhan wants independence and to not be controlled by America… read analysis of Prince Ngong

Deong

Deong is a Sarkhanese villager who befriends John Colvin after saving his life from Japanese soldiers. Deong spends months fighting the Japanese with Colvin and even sabotages a Japanese platoon, allowing American marines to liberate… read analysis of Deong

Ruth Jyoti

Ruth Jyoti is a Burmese reporter who writes about Father Finian. The American government invites Jyoti to visit America and see how their press operates. During her stay, Jyoti speaks with Joseph Rivers about… read analysis of Ruth Jyoti

Solomon Asch

Solomon Asch is an American diplomat who leads a negotiation to convince India, Thailand, and Burma to allow America to store nuclear weapons in their countries. Asch is disciplined and professional and demands that his… read analysis of Solomon Asch

Boning

Captain Boning is a navy captain who serves on Asch’s delegation. Asch warns Boning that the negotiations will depend on Boning’s weapons knowledge, and Boning must remain sharp and alert at all times. However… read analysis of Boning

Emma Atkins

After leaving Vietnam, Emma and her husband, Homer, move to Sarkhan and settle in a poor village called Chang ‘Dong. Emma supports Homer while he works on his water pump, but she also undertakes… read analysis of Emma Atkins

Jeepo

Jeepo is a Sarkhanese villager who helps Atkins design his water pump and becomes his business partner when they go into production. Jeepo is a sharp mechanic who gives invaluable insight into how to make… read analysis of Jeepo

Senator Jonathan Brown

Jonathan Brown is an American senator who travels to Vietnam to decide whether he should reduce the Americans’ operating budget. Although Brown arrives with a stern attitude and is intent on getting the facts, his… read analysis of Senator Jonathan Brown

U Maung Swe

U Maung Swe is a Burmese journalist who speaks at a formal dinner in honor of Ambassador MacWhite. U Maung Swe explains why American diplomats are ineffective throughout Southeast Asia and how their garish… read analysis of U Maung Swe

Arthur Alexander Gray

Alex Gray is the American Ambassador to Vietnam. When Gray hears that Senator Brown is coming to inspect them, he calls his staff together and tells them to make Brown think they are doing a… read analysis of Arthur Alexander Gray

Dr. Hans Barre

Dr. Barre is a translator working for the Americans in Vietnam. During Brown’s visit, Gray tells Barre to filter whatever the Vietnamese civilians tell him as he translates. Barre does so, hiding the fact… read analysis of Dr. Hans Barre

Joe Bing

Joe Bing is a member of the foreign service, a loud, boisterous, quintessential American. Although most Americans love Joe Bing, Jyoti remarks that most Asians find him overly loud and culturally insensitive. He does not… read analysis of Joe Bing

Bob Maile

Bob Maile is an American diplomat in Burma whom Ruth Jyoti speaks very highly of. Unlike most Americans in the story, Maile is studious, humble, and quiet. He and his wife learn Burmese immediately, put… read analysis of Bob Maile

Marie MacIntosh

Marie is a 28-year-old American woman who is bored with her “drab” life. Marie takes a job in the Foreign Service and moves to Sarkhan. She writes to her former roommates about how luxurious… read analysis of Marie MacIntosh

Li Pang

Li Pang is a Chinese representative for Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek. Li and MacWhite are old friends. MacWhite invites Li to visit him and help him with his plan to rid Sarkhan of Communist operators. However… read analysis of Li Pang

Jim Davis

Jim Davis is a black American soldier who fights for Major Monet as a Foreign Legionnaire. Davis is an excellent scout and the only Legionnaire whom the Vietnamese scouts trust. However, on a patrol, Communists… read analysis of Jim Davis
Minor Characters
Ramon Magsaysay
Ramon Magsaysay is a Filipino politician and Minister of Defense. Colonel Hillandale befriends Magsaysay and becomes his unofficial advisor. When Magsaysay, who is sympathetic to America, campaigns for the presidency, Hillandale helps him win support in a region with entrenched Communists by befriending the local people.
Joseph Rivers
Joseph Rivers is an American official who gives Ruth Jyoti a tour of San Francisco. When Rivers hears Jyoti criticize Joe Bing—whom all Americans love—he thinks that she is terribly offensive, and that any person who doesn’t love Joe Bing must not love America itself.
Hamilton Upton
Hamilton Upton is an austere and professional man who works with Joe Bing to recruit new people to the Foreign Service. Upton states that although everyone would rather stay with their family and work in America, they have a duty as citizens to fight Communism’s “world-wide conspiracy.”
Donald
Donald is MacWhite’s Chinese servant. Although Donald claims to not understand English, he secretly does and operates as a Communist spy.
Roger
Roger is MacWhite’s Chinese servant. Although Roger claims to not understand English, he secretly does and operates as a Communist spy.
The Martins
The Martins are an American couple who move into a Burmese village, learn the language, and teach their neighbors how to can and preserve vegetables, initiating a small canning industry in the area.
Don Philippe
Don Philippe is the Philippine Ambassador to Sarkhan and an old friend of Colonel Hillandale. During a formal dinner, Don Philippe asks Hillandale to read the Sarkhanese dignitaries’ palms to stall them for 30 minutes while his cook goes to find a missing ingredient.
Prince Moyang
Prince Moyang is a Sarkhanese protocol officer, who George Swift offends when he does not follow protocol to arrange the King’s palm reading.
Ernest Cravath
Cravath is an American officer in Vietnam, who convinces Senator Brown that they are effectively fighting the Communist soldiers, even though they are actually losing.
Mao Tse-tung
Mao Tse-tung is the leader of the Chinese Communists and a prominent intellectual in the Communist movement. Mao and his soldiers defeat Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Chinese nationalists, and take control of China.
Margaret Johnson
Margaret works as a secretary for Louis Sears. Margaret takes her job seriously and maintains relationships with Sarkhanese newspaper editors, which Sears dislikes her for.
U Tien
U Tien is a Burmese Catholic and the first man that Father Finian enlists to fight Communism. U Tien helps Finian find dependable local anti-Communist men to ally with.
Vladimir Vinich
Vladimir Vinich is a Russian operative sent to combat Father Finian’s effective campaign against Communism. However, Toki secretly records a conversation where Vinich admits that the Communists will not actually help the Burmese people and broadcasts it on the local radio, defeating Vinich’s efforts.
Toki
Toki is one of the Burmese men who helps Father Finian fight Communism in the rural villages. Toki infiltrates the local Communist Party, records Vinich admitting that the Communists do not actually intend to help Burmese peasants, and broadcasts the recording on the local radio, thus defeating Vinich.
Dexter Peterson
Dexter Peterson is a member of the State Department in Washington, D.C., and Louis Sears’s superior.