The Man Who Couldn T Read Analysis

Siddhant Kasat
Writing 39A
Dr. Langdon
22th May, 2016.
Reading- People or Words?

The main character in the story, “The Man Who Couldn’t Read” by Gary Smith, is John Corcoran, who was an illiterate millionaire. This vigilant and highly strategic character tried to hide a major part of himself for his whole life. He was determined to achieve success, but was always terrified to tell his parents or teachers about his plight. Thus, the only option left for him was to find a way on his own- observing people, their reactions, different surroundings, critical situations, taking help from people, cheating on exams to pass and much more. Although most readers of the story have a stereotype of John as a helpless but determined child which makes them
He orchestrated girls to help him write his essays, pals to read him the math problems or whisper the instructions for the next assignment in typing class. “What does this mean to you?” instead of “Read this for me”, “What do they want here?” instead of “Write this for me”, “Let’s work on this together”; he was persuasive without even raising suspicion. And the surprising part was that nobody felt used! He would use his tricks such as promising to stand by their sides in a fight, making their chances better with a girl or including them in his team, it seemed convincing. Nobody would realize his true intention and even if they did, it was too late because he was “packed and gone”. Thus, everything was very simple and convenient for him. He sat next to the “right girls”, stole the “right answers”, smiled the “right smiles” and somehow survived. He knew how to take advantage of situations and search the room for the right people by quizzing each friend. He studied everything carefully and planned his next moves in advance. He was so careful to not raise suspicion that nobody would even get a slight hint of what he was up
He always had to depend on students in his teaching profession and on his business partners and colleagues. He had a secretary to read him his correspondence, a lawyer to read contracts and a wife to write for him! He did not do anything substantial but always got the reward. In the end, when he faces a loss, he is not willing to accept it. He cannot “take a loss” because of his pride and after having taken so many efforts he does not want to give up. Everyone tried to convince him but he was bent on his decision. He only cared about himself, nothing else mattered.
Gary Smith presents John Corcoran as a determined person, who beats his weakness’ to achieve success in life. All those traits -- adamant, vigilant, adaptable, strategic, evasive – are clearly brought out by the authors writing. But most readers miss out on the negative aspect of John as a selfish, shrewd and dominating man. All his actions had a motive behind them. Even when we felt that he was helping people, he was helping