William Giordano
WRT101
Professor Drozd
3, May 2013
Four Characters on Trial With Jack presently in his third of college, he is passing but with below average work. His mother frowned upon him that he was not doing a letter grade better. Jack’s mother wanted him to go to law school, just like his father. She had also mentioned that if Jack’s GPA did not go up any higher, he would not get the car or the trip promised. Professor Brown, Jack’s sociology professor had told him “You probably don’t belong in college anyway”. Jack had to get help, so he turned to his friend Victor. Victor had done the work for Jack, but Jack promised Victor he would owe him money. Jack, is a college student who is struggling to keep his grades up and must do so to please the people around him. Jack was wrong to go to his friend Victor for help and should have gone to the writing center instead. One reason could be, that Jack is obligated to bump up his grade in sociology because if he does not then his mother will be displeased with him. Jack was doing below average work in sociology, he could have felt like he needed an easier way out of this despicable situation. Another reason Jack had Victor write his paper for him, could have been the fact that Jack was under a tremendous amount of stress. Jack wanted to please his mother and professor by getting a good grade on the make-up paper, but did not want to get a bad grade. Professor Brown, told Jack that his paper was disgraceful and had no chance of receiving a passing grade in the class, except on one condition. Professor Brown gave Jack until the next day at 9 a.m. to write a brand new revised paper. Professor Brown, had specifically told Jack because of his below average grades and work that, “You probably don’t belong in college anyway”. Professor Brown gave Jack the impression that he simply could not and would not be able to complete the assignment in time. That negative message that the professor had told Jack was quite harsh, but rather possibly the truth instead. Even though the professor said that to be the nothing but the truth, the professor has a point. Jack just may not be cut out for college; however, that is when Jack wanted to prove him wrong. Victor was the man that Jack had decided to arrange a meeting with so that his paper was accomplished in time. Victor had told Jack he would write his paper in time to submit for 9 a.m. in exchange for money. Now a few days have passed by since Jack had handed in the paper; the professor gives Jack a good grade. Possibly, Jack did not pay the money to Victor right away. This had Victor very angry and told Jack that if he did not compensate with double the original fee, he would reveal the transaction to Professor Brown. Victor only said that to Jack because Jack probably made Victor a promise that he would get the money for him. Jack probably did not have the money at the time, but he promised Victor the money so the paper would get done in time. Jack had done all this rushing around just for one reason, to please his mother. Jack’s mother had been insisting that he should enroll in law school and become an attorney just like his father. She was displeased and irritated with the grades Jack had been receiving in college, affecting his GPA. Jack’s mother told gave Jack the intention that if he did not do well in school he would not graduate, not get the car or trip promised, and certainly not become an attorney like his father. Jack knew he was not good at writing term papers in sociology, so that’s when he met up with Victor. He made Victor write the essay, to get a good grade from Professor Brown, to please his mother so she would not think of him as a failure. In final consideration, Victor, Professor Brown and Jack are not the worst characters in the short story. Yeah sure, Jack met up with Victor, but only to make sure he would receive a good grade on the paper. The only reason Jack met up with Victor because Professor Brown told him his paper was disgraceful. Jack did not get discouraged with Professor Brown’s words and wanted to prove him wrong. However, the only reason he wanted to please Professor Brown is so he would receive a good grade. The only reason Jack went through all this was to please his mother. Jack’s mother is the worst character out of the four in the story because she made Jack do what did not make him happy. Although, Jack wanted to receive a good grade to show his mother that he can be successful in life if he really wanted to. She had told him that if he did not get a good grade, Jack would not receive the car or trip as promised, as well as not becoming an attorney like his father. Well, what if Jack never wanted to go to college? What if Jack never wanted to be an attorney just like his father? Jack was so preoccupied by trying to please so many people, especially his mother, he never got the chance to please himself. Jack should be able to choose what makes him happy in life, not what his mother thought was going to make him happy.