Kichizo is a boy of contradictions. The boy is small yet packs a punch. He is discontent but would refuse to be moved from his position in life. One who wishes to be “in a fancy kimono” (908) but says he “was born to wear plain kimono with worker sleeves” (908). So why is he like this?

The biggest reason is that he resigns himself to fate and makes no attempt to change it. “Oiling umbrella is fine” (908) for him. No matter how much he hates his job or his boss, he does nothing but accept it. He says what keeps him going is this fantasy that “the few people who’ve been the least bit kind to me turn out to be my mother and my father and my brother and sister” (909). It’s clear that for him, he does not find much value in life especially being abandoned when he was young and bullied every day. It is because of this that he doesn’t have the motivation to change. While he may imagine a grander life, the amount of work that is necessary for him to get there does not equal the value that he would get from actually living that life. Furthermore, he is very realistic with himself. The society environment does not encourage the movement of social status. Perhaps he could “squeezing a little from the change” (908) but he won’t become a noble or extremely successful. While other may have grand aspirations, he is much more grounded. However, it is clear that he could do better. If he was really that good at oiling umbrella, he could work at a better work environment or even open his own. But because he just resigns to his fate, he does not strive for an improvement.

In addition, it’s clear that the most important value for him is not money or the escape from poverty, it is family. For someone who’ve grown up being abandoned by his parents and  society, love and kindness are just that much more important to him. This is why the leaving of Okyo was so hard on him. She is the only one left who is kind and like family to him, but even she is leaving him, just like his parents and Omatsu. He is once again forced to face the departure of a loved one.