Personal Essay about The Ballad of the Sad Cafe

After reading the story Sucker I believe that the character Sucker is not a living, breathing person. He was created by the main character out of psychological need to help him in his daily activities. I think Sucker is a make believe person in the characters mind that he uses to reflect and interpret his emotions as well as what's going on in his life. Sucker is not a real person because he usually, or almost never, interferes with things going on. Therefore, it is almost as if he's not even there. For example, at the very start of the story where it says: “Sucker slept in my bed with me but that didn't interfere with anything.” This supports my idea because it shows that Sucker is like a ghost or spirit. Another reason that I believe Sucker is not real is because he engages in far fetched activities and does crazy things that normal people don't usually do. For example, in the fourth paragraph of the story it says that Sucker jumped off the garage and tried to use an umbrella as a parachute which caused him to hurt his knee. This event contributes to the idea that Sucker is not real because most people understand that an umbrella wouldn't work as a parachute and that jumping off the garage is extremely dangerous. So, this makes the character seem less realistic and it almost seems like the event didn't even happen. This shows that he is made up simply out of psychological need. Finally, a reason that justifies the idea of Sucker being a make believe person is that he leaves his shared room all the time and never brings friends over. For example, in paragraph 2 it says: “all I had to do was glance once at Sucker and he would get up from whatever he was busy with and maybe half smile at me, and leave without saying a word.” This makes it seem as though Sucker is an imaginary friend and that whatever the main characters mind wants will be shown by Suckers actions. Also, the story says that Sucker never brought kids back to their room. This adds to his character to make him seem solitary. However, this really proves that the main character wants a certain aspect of solitude in his life that he gets out of sucker. In conclusion, many different facts and examples add up to show that Sucker is not a real person and is simply made up. He is a combination of many things that real people aren't, such as his extreme solitude and non-interference in others lives. Also, his craziness and no sense of danger prove that he cannot be human. Sucker was created to fit the everyday needs of the main character and possibly to help him decipher his inner feelings about life.