Sparky's roommate, Bob, a young man from Enid, Oklahoma, is caught in another kind of prejudice. Having joined the Navy because his father thought it would toughen him up, Bob finds himself drawn to the culture of this new and exotic land. But his experience turns sour when he is blackmailed by a Japanese man with whom he has been sexually involved and is forced to give up top secret documents. Bob's sexual identity is revealed to the Captain and even Sparky is unable to understand his friend, who had led him to believe he had a steady girlfriend back home. In the end, however, having lived a life of covering up his true feelings, Bob confesses that he is tired of lying about who he is. "The subplot of the gay man allowed me to talk about different kinds of attraction and illicit love," says Gurney. "I hope we learn about the blinders that we put on when we have a racist attitude."