The United States was not at war with Japan. The raid was Colonel Tolstoy’s idea, a shrewd move, as he saw it, because the men he was about to kill would most certainly kill him as soon as they found out what he had done. He had no intention of giving them the opportunity for revenge, because the men sleeping inside the three houses were men to be feared.
In the opening chapter of Black Samurai, Olden sets the tone by introducing the ruthless antagonist Colonel Tolstoy long before we get our first glimpse of the novel's protagonist. As Tolstoy's killer Dobermans approach the samurai houses of Master Konuma, Tolstoy readies himself for the assault. In this passage, the narrator comments cryptically on Tolstoy's motivation for the raid. Having split from the US Army, the Colonel is striking out on his own as an international terrorist. His first step is to kidnap Toki Jakata Bi, the granddaughter of Konuma and wife of a South Vietnamese politician. Believing correctly that Konuma and his samurai students will stop at nothing to get revenge, Tolstoy knows he must eliminate them before they even realize Toki has been kidnapped.
“That is what we trained for all our lives,” said Maka. “To die. Without fear, and with honor. You are the best of us. Get to the Master. We will fight and hold them back as long as we can and we shall die here because it is meant to be that way. Go to our Master. Save him if you can. If you cannot, then die there with him.”
Sand looked at Maka’s long sad face, then at Kuri, the short stocky Japanese who loved Playboy magazine and who would have been the best judo player of them all. “I will not disgrace my brothers or my Master,” said the Black Samurai, clutching his prize in both hands.
After detailing the gruesome raid on the samurai houses for several pages, Olden finally introduces his novel's protagonist: Robert Sand, the Black Samurai. In this exchange, Sand and two of his fellow samurai conduct themselves with equanimity as they decide to send Sand to protect their sensei while Maka and Kuri sacrifice themselves to hold back the raiders as long as they can. The passage is significant because it shows the clear contrast between Tolstoy and his hired terrorists and the honorable samurais among whom Sand lives.
The dying old man looked at Sand, and his thin, bony arms, the backs of his hands knotted with blue veins, reached up toward the black man’s face. Softly he said, “Sand-san…San…Sandayu…Sand.”
Sandayu. Perhaps the greatest Samurai warrior in Japan’s history, a master of weapons, a man both cunning and courageous, a man who fought like no other ever had. A legend in medieval Japan, yet a man who actually lived, performing incredible deeds with courage and skill.
And now, the dying old master was calling Sand by that name. As he had done once before. What did it mean?
Despite his heroic triumph over terrorists armed with advanced weapons, Sand doesn't reach Master Konuma's room until the eighty-year-old sensei is already dying. In this passage, Konuma dies in Sand's arms while uttering the word "Sandayu," a reference to a legendary samurai warrior. It is the second time he has used the term with Sand, which has led Sand to understand that Konuma may believe he is the reincarnation of the great warrior. This scene is significant because Sand will return to it later in the novel when he needs to rally his energy and have the same faith that Konuma had in him.
He lay on the cold hard pavement, rolling gently from side to side, both hands covering his stomach, trying to keep the blood from coming out. Jesus it hurt, man it hurt worse than anything he’d ever imagined. This is what it’s like to get shot, he thought. It’s a bitch, let me tell you.
Sand’s mouth was open, greedily gulping air. His head felt light, as if he were high on something, then it felt cool, then light again. His hands were warm and sticky with his own blood. Then—
He couldn’t believe it. Man, he couldn’t believe it. Shit, he wasn’t seeing what he was seeing, it was just his imagination, something he was dreaming.
That old man was stomping the shit out of the four young white dudes, all of them bigger and stronger than he was. Too fucking much. The old man, gray beard and all, was kicking ass like there was no tomorrow. He dropped the stocky sergeant with the quickest kick in the balls Sand had ever seen, then, without putting that foot back on the ground, he drove the edge of the foot into the side of another white GI's knee and Sand heard the sickening snap and the man’s scream of pain.
Before the man with the gun could use it again, the old man had leaped high in the air, both feet tucked neatly under his own ass and quicker than hell lashed out with both feet at the gunman’s face, breaking a lot of bones.
In a flashback to 1966, the narrator shows how Sand came to be part of Konuma's samurai training program. Having come across a group of American soldiers harassing an elderly Japanese man (Konuma), Sand tried to intervene, getting shot by the racist GIs. In this passage, Sand writhes on the ground and witnesses the unbelievable sight of the elderly man using martial arts to disarm and incapacitate the much younger and larger Americans. The passage is significant because it shows how Sand, not yet having the skills of a samurai, made the honorable choice to risk his own safety by standing up for what was right. In doing so, Sand showed Konuma that he possessed something special.
Sand was nervous. Something was happening between himself and the old Japanese man, something the young black could not understand and wasn’t sure he liked. He wanted to run away, to leave that room.
But he didn’t.
And when Mr. Konuma stood up and walked to the door, Sand, without fully understanding what he did or why he did it, walked to the door, opened it, allowed Mr. Konuma to walk through first, then followed the old man out into the empty hospital corridor.
Sand never once looked behind him.
In 1966, Sand wakes up in a hospital and recovers from the gunshot wound to his stomach. He is shocked to learn that the elderly Japanese man—Konuma—from the street fight has negotiated his release from the US Army so that Sand may train with him to be a samurai. In this passage, the narrator comments on Sand's apprehension about going with the stranger to begin his training. Even though he isn't sure he can trust Konuma, Sand is compelled to fight the feeling and follow the mysterious samurai master. The line "Sand never once looked behind him" is heavy with implication and suggests that Sand, despite his misgivings, made the right decision in following Konuma, who accurately assessed his suitability to become a samurai.
The letter started an idea worming through The Baron’s mind. So he contacted the Japanese Government, quietly and privately, and someone then spoke to Mr. Konuma, who nodded yes, adding a few more sentences. And it was Mr. Konuma who spoke to Sand privately. Not because of The Baron, but because events were coming together in a way that was both inevitable and right. “To train to be a Samurai,” he said, “is not enough. To become a Samurai means to serve others, to use your skills for the highest of ideals and principles. I am old, I will die before you. I want you to always have a life worthy of what I have tried to teach you.”
That’s when the black man learned that he would fly to America the next day, spend three weeks there getting to know his country and, most important of all, getting to know William Baron Clarke.
As a rich and powerful ex-President, William "The Baron" Clarke has people posted around the world who keep him informed about various topics. One contact in Japan clues him in to the existence of Robert Sand, a former GI who has become the most impressive samurai in Konuma's group. In this passage, Clarke hears of Sand and devises a plan to use him to carry out missions around the globe to keep corrupt, powerful people from endangering the world. In a rare moment in which Konuma addresses Sand directly, the samurai master speaks of the importance of using one's training for good, and in the service of others. This code of honor and service stays with Sand throughout the book as he risks his life to eliminate Tolstoy and his men.
“If you’re wondering why I want you to help me nail some hides to the barn door, it’s because I can’t trust anybody else.”
“Why not?” asked the black man, calm and not too interested in the answer.
“Read the papers,” said The Baron. “Every organization from the FBI, to the CIA, to the police departments in every major city is fighting each other and themselves, and giving in to a finger’s worth of pressure from anybody anywhere. Nobody can be trusted because everybody’s either scared shitless or corrupt or confused. Not all of them, but enough of them to convince me that I can’t do it the regular way anymore. I got to go with somebody new, somebody nobody knows, and I’m just wondering if you’re what I need. I need my own man.”
After Sand travels to Clarke's Texas ranch, Clarke fills him in on his plan, which involves using his money and influence to make the world a better place. Clarke knows he cannot trust most people because they are too easily frightened or corrupted; this is why he wants Sand to be his personal assassin. The scene is significant because it shows how Clarke's and Sand's unique relationship begins, and how its already established foundation is there when the threat of Colonel Tolstoy arises.
“America ruined me,” said Tolstoy, “and she’s trying to get you [Long Minh Sat] hung. I want to show them what war is really like, to let the country and its fat-assed politicians know that a lot of good men died for nothing. ‘Peace With Honor’? Bullshit! When they look out their backyards, past their barbecue pits and see My Lai only a few feet away, then they’ll know! By God, then they’ll know! For what they did to me and to the memory of a lot of good men and for what they’re trying to do to you, they should pay.”
In this passage, Colonel Tolstoy outlines his motivation for massacring the inhabitants of a town in upstate New York. After his involvement in the My Lai massacre of 1968, which saw US troops slaughter more than five hundred unarmed South Vietnamese civilians, Tolstoy faces scrutiny within the military and from the South Vietnamese government. To get revenge, Tolstoy plans to recreate the massacre within the United States, bringing the brutality of the Vietnam War to the "backyards" of the political officials who don't understand the reality of combat.
Slowly pulling her small slim hands from his, she turned, picked up the present and handed it to him. Smiling, the young black man unwrapped it, opened the box and took out an inexpensive but attractive man’s wristwatch. “Do you like it?” she asked gently.
“Yes,” he murmured, not trusting himself to say more. And there was so much more to say to Toki. He didn’t know then that he should have told her all he felt about her and about so many things. He should have told her then.…
More than halfway through the novel, Olden reveals that Sand has a personal connection to Toki, the granddaughter of Master Konuma being held captive by Tolstoy. In a flashback, the narrator shows how Sand and Toki developed a somewhat forbidden romantic relationship, conducted while they were both in Tokyo, away from Konuma's watchful eye. In this passage, Toki gifts Sand a wristwatch he still wears in the present-day storyline. He regrets not having confessed his love to her then, because she went on to marry a prominent South Vietnamese politician.
"Oriental honor, you might say,” said Sand. “She’s committed herself to a fine man, a man whose honor will be destroyed if his wife leaves him.”
The limousine pulled out onto the parkway. Pines drove carefully.
“Don’t mean to pry,” said Clarke, “And don’t answer if you don’t want to, but why didn’t you two…well…”
“My fault," said Sand. “I never asked her to, and worse, I never told her I loved her until two days ago. That was the first time. In Japan, a woman waits to be asked. I never asked her, it’s that simple. I’ve spent a lot of time keeping things in. As for the man she married, they met when she took a long trip to get over the way things were going between us.”
In the final paragraphs of the novel, Sand sees Toki off at the airport and gets in a car with Clarke and Pines. Despite Toki and Sand having confessed their love for each other following the defeat of Tolstoy, Toki goes back to her husband in Vietnam. In this exchange, Clarke asks about their history. Sand admits that it is his fault they aren't together, because he never told her he loved her when he should have. To get over the upset of having been implicitly rejected by Sand, Toki went traveling and wound up with the man she married. This scene is significant because it shows the normally taciturn and seemingly indestructible Sand being vulnerable. Having spent so much time living by a code of honor and service, he finally opens himself to the possibility that his reserved nature has been to his detriment. This bittersweet ending prepares the reader for the rest of the series, which will likely show further developments between Sand and Toki.
