# Charles Oldham IV — Search the Sky character guide

> Charles Oldham IV in Search the Sky by Frederik Pohl.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Oldham, Charles Oldham, Chuck

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

Ross's pompous employer at Oldham Trading, a man whose name carries weight in boardrooms but whose judgment Haarland dismisses with open contempt.

## Who they are

Oldham never appears onstage, yet his shadow governs Ross's choices: quitting him for a purser's berth feels ethical, quitting him for Haarland feels like betrayal. Haarland calls him 'that pompous young fool' and still phones him for a character reference, and the verdict — enough to hand Ross the assignment — arrives filtered through the old man's condescension. Oldham matters as the gravity Ross must escape: the respectable, dead-end orbit that Haarland's desperate mission yanks him out of.

## Relationships

### [Ross](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/ross)

_rivalry_

Charles Oldham IV is a rival or antagonist to Ross, competing for status or goals.

### [Ross](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/ross)

_rivalry_

Charles Oldham IV is a rival or antagonist to Ross, competing for status or goals.

### [Ross](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/ross)

_rivalry_

Charles Oldham IV is a rival or antagonist to Ross, competing for status or goals.

## In the story

### [I Decay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/chapters/i)

Ross's breezy young boss at the Oldham Trading Corporation.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/chapters/ii)

Oldham loses his composure, ranting about the business downturn and the planet's decay, showing a crack in his optimistic facade.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/charles_oldham_iv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters