Bleachers By John Grisham Analysis

In high school, Neely Crenshaw is the All-American quarterback. He is the best of the best. Everyone in Messina,

Forgiveness can be one of the hardest things that you can do. Sometimes it will take a few days or it could take many years to get the courage to finally know what forgiveness really is. Both Neely and Coach Rake had to learn the hard way and own up to their mistakes to move on with their lives. Even if Rake had taken this to his grave, he did not want Neely to do the same because he loved his players, even if he had a hard time telling them that. They too were coach Rake’s inspiration to push

The theme of The Outsiders is that everyone can rise above what others expect from them. This is relevant throughout the book when Johnny and Ponyboy save the kids from the burning church, when Randy doesn't want to fight or hate the Greasers anymore, and when Johnny stands up for Cherry and Marcia.

Randall Scott Reardon, or as others called him Scotty, was just fifteen years old, only a sophomore in high school, and had such a long life ahead of him. That all ended on August 21st, 1992 when Coach Eddie Rake made the football players run the unforgettable “bleachers”. Scotty was running the “bleachers” for a grueling third time and died of heatstroke right there in the stands. Rake was held responsible with the death and the Reardons were able to fire him due to their wealth and connections. The death affected Rake more than the people of Messina could fathom as expressed in his final letter read at the funeral, “Holding him in my arms as he passed away is something I have wept over every day since” (Grisham 204). All he wanted was to be forgiven by the Reardons. Eventually, the Reardons did forgive him as this was also said in Rake’s letter, “I have expressed these feelings to his parents, and, in time, I think they have forgiven me. I cling to their forgiveness and take it to my death” (Grisham 204). The Reardons finally had the strength to forgive Rake after seeing how greatly Scotty’s death affected him and they even allowed Rake to be buried next to Scotty’s grave. There was now closure over such a terrible tragedy and both the Reardons and Rake could be at

During the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, author J.D. Salinger brings Holden’s pessimistic, antisocial personality to life through what he says, how he says it, and through the characters he meets. Salinger bases Holden’s expressions off of the culture of the 1950’s, his own personal dialect, and the everyday occurrences of Holden’s life in mind. J.D. Salinger manipulates the diction, uses syntax to criticize others, and controls the character interaction and dialogue in order to create the protagonist, Holden Caulfield.

Why does Holden continuously judge people based on their physical appearance? Could this be a projection of his insecurities or a reflection of his mental health?

Sports Illustrated writer, Lee Jenkins, writes about the impact of a small-town football coach had on his community, before and after death in the article “A Good Man Down.” The author explains the life of Ed Thomas, the head coach for the Apilington-Parkersburg football team in Iowa. Ed Thomas was shot and killed while training his athletes by Mark Becker. Lee Jenkins begins by using very detail accounts to bring out the pathos of the town, bringing the audience to feel emotionally connected to the town of Parkersburg.

Eddie Rake was a man with power. He used his power to train and better the young men of Messina. However, Eddie had love and admiration for his players. In John Grishams’ Bleachers, Eddie Rake is seen as a Hero, savior, all powerful. What people do not realize is that his love is power, love can always be power but power will never be love. Eddie Rake has done his best to use his power to influence the entire town of Messina. He may not have known that he did, but Eddie was able to help everyone in that small town have a taste of greatness. The Spartan football team most of all.

The coming of age phase in a young person’s life is a transitional phase which prompts the idea of individualism, decision making, acceptance, moral challenges, disappointment, and individual needs. These years are essential for the overall learning and growing-up part of someone’s life. Coming of age characteristics transpired in the novel The Catcher in the Rye and The Absolutely True Diary of a part-time Indian pertain to, but do not exclude, the acceptance of the complexities and “grayness” of the world, confrontation with the adult world, and the individual needs and desires vs. external pressures/expectations/norms. In both novels, young boys are faced with tough choices that will later help them in the overall transition from

In the U.S society, there is a distinguishment between the different classification of employment. Those categories of employment are either classified as “blue-collar” or “white-collar”. Blue-collar jobs are referred to the line of employment that require manual labor such as factory workers and truck drivers, as for the white-collar jobs require high skills and higher education such as doctors and lawyers (Chambliss and Eglitis 159). Although, the professions are labeled as blue or white collar through its needs, the different labels indicates one’s position in the ranks. Each rank is often associated with characteristic that either make them upper class or lower class. Furthermore, “people’s life experience and opportunities are powerfully influenced by how their social category is ranked”(Chambliss and Eglitis 159). Therefore, one’s lifestyle depends on which category they fall into within the rank. That being the case, journalist Alfred Lubrano wrote the book, Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams, which describes the cultural conflict experienced by white-collar professionals that grew up in blue-collar homes. It tells readers how the white-collar professionals found it difficult to apply to their blue-collar families, due to the fact, that they often held values and engaged in behaviors that apply to the upper-class. As in order to fit in within the groups, they would have to adapt to the upper class life. So the transition from a blue-collar life to a

Many people form their opinions of whether or not a book is believable solely on the book’s classification as nonfiction or fiction. Others use New Critical analysis to determine whether a book is believable or not. The use of New Critical analysis requires the reader to consider events that happen throughout the book and any conflict that may have occurred. It also requires that the reader focus on the plot of the book and the characters. Grisham sets the book to take place in a small, football crazed town, known as Messina. The book is set in present day time, but Grisham uses his characters to incorporate flashbacks from the sixties, seventies, and eighties. Grisham uses many characters throughout the entire book to tell the story

Neely Crenshaw is a man that deals with a conflict from his past and issues with forgiveness. This is a realistic problem everyone goes through and hope to overcome these demons. Crenshaw is conflicting with himself on whether to thank Coach Rake or if he hates him. He wants to thank him because Rake played a major role on how tough mentally Crenshaw turned out to be, but also hates him for how much football took over his life and for the incident that happened at halftime during the 87’

It is expected for arguments to arise when writing about controversial topics. Many times the meaning of a book is not as obvious as the author intended, which may lead to problems. Other times, books are challenged because they contain sexual or inappropriate material. When Kurt Vonnegut released Slaughterhouse-Five critics were quick to judge his peculiar way of writing. Although Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse-Five was oftentimes misunderstood, interpreted as inappropriate, and judged for the peculiar point of view, critics seem to appreciate and accept one aspect of it: the structure of the book.

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by J.D. Salinger that occurs around the 1950s. The story’s protagonist and narrator is Holden Caulfield, a seventeen year old white male, who journeys to various places as he mourns over the death of his little brother, Allie. As a white male in a capitalist society, he has tremendous amounts of privileges that allow him to get. However, as the novel progresses, Holden describes his society as a place where honored human qualities are suppressed and capitalist ideals are embraced. Throughout the novel, we see that capitalism, “the social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned”, destroys the overall society for Holden and his generation (Rand).

The author from The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger utilizes motifs loneliness and depression to show how Holden a teenager from the book explains the struggles he had during the great depression. J.D. Salinger uses the motifs of loneliness and depression to illustrate the theme that when people feel lonely they try to connect with people to get rid of it.