The Ugly American

by

Eugene Burdick and William J. Lederer

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

John Colvin Character Analysis

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 combat partner, and develops a deep love for Sarkhanese people and culture. Colvin returns to America, but when he hears that Sarkhan is leaning toward Communism, he goes back to Sarkhan with a plan to import cattle and create a dairy industry, bolstering the local economy and strengthening the people against Communism. However, within weeks, Deong reappears and announces that he is a Communist, and he must stop Colvin. Deong frames Colvin for attempted rape and local women nearly beat him to death. Colvin is flown back to America to recover, though he eventually returns and successfully puts his dairy plan into action.

John Colvin Quotes in The Ugly American

The The Ugly American quotes below are all either spoken by John Colvin or refer to John Colvin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Failure of the American Foreign Service Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

“Look, John, I told you milk is part of history. If you get this crazy milk and cattle scheme of yours going, it could in time change the economic balance in Sarkhan.”

“What’s wrong with that? That’s what I want to do.”

“Nothing. It’s a good idea. Out in the bush we’ve talked it over a lot. But you’re the wrong person to be permitted to do it. If it succeeded, the Sarkhanese would believe that America was their savior.”

Related Characters: John Colvin (speaker), Deong (speaker)
Page Number: 14
Explanation and Analysis:
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John Colvin Quotes in The Ugly American

The The Ugly American quotes below are all either spoken by John Colvin or refer to John Colvin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
The Failure of the American Foreign Service Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

“Look, John, I told you milk is part of history. If you get this crazy milk and cattle scheme of yours going, it could in time change the economic balance in Sarkhan.”

“What’s wrong with that? That’s what I want to do.”

“Nothing. It’s a good idea. Out in the bush we’ve talked it over a lot. But you’re the wrong person to be permitted to do it. If it succeeded, the Sarkhanese would believe that America was their savior.”

Related Characters: John Colvin (speaker), Deong (speaker)
Page Number: 14
Explanation and Analysis: