Character Sketch of The Swipe from I am a Fool
Character Sketch for I’m a Fool
September 28th, 2013
The character in I’m a Fool is a 19 year old boy, who will be referred to as the Swipe, his occupation, since his name was not mentioned in the story. Similar to most common people, the Swipe likes “feeling grander and more important” (pg.94) while he does not like “putting on too many airs” (pg.93). He is introduced as a “big lumbering fellow” (pg.91) who could not get a job because he “had gotten too big to mow people’s lawns and sell newspapers” (pg.91). Since he could not just stay home, and there was no other works to get, he took a job as a swipe of the race horses. The physical weaknesses, being big and strong, that restricted him of getting other jobs changed into the physical strengths when he became a swipe. On top of the physical weaknesses and strengths, the Swipe’s personal weaknesses are also well shown. As the story is being told in first person point of view, it is clearly shown through the ways of speaking that the Swipe is uneducated. He keeps on saying “Gee whizz” and “Gosh amighty” repeatedly whenever he is surprised, or is happy, or doesn’t know what to say. This shows his lack of vocabulary usages due to having no sophisticated education. More personal weaknesses are revealed as the Swipe lies in front of the girl he likes, impulsively without thinking of the consequences that will follow, to hide his embarrassing real identity as a swipe.
At the start of the story, the Swipe says “there will be a kind of satisfaction in making myself[himself]”(pg.91) because he feels ashamed of himself for making a stupid mistake of lying to other people. Furthermore, the Swipe shows his emotions towards others quite honestly through his narrations and his behaviours. First of all, to him, the Mother is someone with “lots of things you’ve got to promise” and looks down upon her because he thinks she “don’t know any better”(pg.93); but, he thanks his mother for teaching him “not to be noisy and rough
September 28th, 2013
The character in I’m a Fool is a 19 year old boy, who will be referred to as the Swipe, his occupation, since his name was not mentioned in the story. Similar to most common people, the Swipe likes “feeling grander and more important” (pg.94) while he does not like “putting on too many airs” (pg.93). He is introduced as a “big lumbering fellow” (pg.91) who could not get a job because he “had gotten too big to mow people’s lawns and sell newspapers” (pg.91). Since he could not just stay home, and there was no other works to get, he took a job as a swipe of the race horses. The physical weaknesses, being big and strong, that restricted him of getting other jobs changed into the physical strengths when he became a swipe. On top of the physical weaknesses and strengths, the Swipe’s personal weaknesses are also well shown. As the story is being told in first person point of view, it is clearly shown through the ways of speaking that the Swipe is uneducated. He keeps on saying “Gee whizz” and “Gosh amighty” repeatedly whenever he is surprised, or is happy, or doesn’t know what to say. This shows his lack of vocabulary usages due to having no sophisticated education. More personal weaknesses are revealed as the Swipe lies in front of the girl he likes, impulsively without thinking of the consequences that will follow, to hide his embarrassing real identity as a swipe.
At the start of the story, the Swipe says “there will be a kind of satisfaction in making myself[himself]”(pg.91) because he feels ashamed of himself for making a stupid mistake of lying to other people. Furthermore, the Swipe shows his emotions towards others quite honestly through his narrations and his behaviours. First of all, to him, the Mother is someone with “lots of things you’ve got to promise” and looks down upon her because he thinks she “don’t know any better”(pg.93); but, he thanks his mother for teaching him “not to be noisy and rough