Character summary by Alexia

Basie

1. Basie is a respected criminal because he manages to gain followers by showing them what he is really like and making them feel important: "Yet Basie's attentive manner...was curiously reassuring." This shows that Basie is kind to others only if it means he will gain something, like an extra worker in this case. He also makes them respect him because he knows that this is the best way to get people to do what he wants.
2. He is manipulative : "Already Jim could see that Basie liked to control the young sailor and was using Jim to unsettle him." This shows that he is clever and can use people how he wants to get what he wants.
3. He tells people what they want to hear so that they will trust him: "Is the war going to end soon?/Don't worry Jim. I give the japs three months on the outside." Although Jim has only just met Baise he feels reassured that Basie is taking an interest in him and that he is answering his questions without asking any of his own.
4. Basie uses people for as long as he thinks they will be worth something for him: "He and Basie had collaborated at the detention centre in order to stay alive but Basie...had dispensed with Jim as soon as he could leave for the camps." This shows that Basie has no emotional attachments to anyone, even a lost and vulnerable twelve year old boy.
5. Basie tries to make the best out of every situation, especially if it means there is something in it for him: "to whatever advantage could be gained from their situation." This shows that Basie doesn't let things bother him as he believes that there will always be something in it for him.