John William recently became the heir to an entire fortune, and because of his age, he received his inheritance from his mother, that is the entire fortune seeing that he is her only son. So, as is to be expected, John William ahs no need for this money, so he gets rid of it the best way he can.
The note inside [the abandoned camper] said, BARGAIN BASEMENT LOVERS: PLEASE COME GET MY CAR. THANKS—SIMON MAGUS…we came to the road end, and, sure enough, there was John William’s Impala, under the trees…we found…seven hundred of what some of my students call Benjamins: that is seven hundred one-hundred-dollar bills. There was also a note…reading, KEEP THE MONEY BUT TAKE THE CAR TO SAN DIEGO & LEAVE IT THERE (133-134).
John William managed to turn over the money and the car to Neil and Jamie in the form of a treasure hunt. He gave the money away because he has no reason for keeping it seeing that he was going to live the rest of his life in the woods. But the treasure hunt seemed to have meaning. John William was constantly pestering Neil about not having found a real place in the world, how teaching wasn’t for him, and that he needed to find his own road. The treasure hunt seemed to signify someone searching for something, but they don’t know what it is. Exactly how John William felt about Neil, and sometimes how Neil felt about himself. John William’s resilience to the modern lifestyle continues when Neil asks, “What makes [this lifestyle in the woods] better than seventy thousand bucks...you could have this and the money” but John William replies, “No, you can’t. Money ruins things” (138).
Even though Neil felt as though his friend had lost his mind, he kept visiting him, to keep him company. They also played a lot of chess, the primary game of strategy that the world has known for over four hundred years. John William had always been the better player, so in order not to embarrass himself; Neil read up on chess strategies and focused primarily on the art of sacrifice. When they finished a certain 3-day 21-game tournament, the conversation read, “‘You’ve got it dialed in.’ [said John William] ‘What’s that?’ ‘Sacrifice.’ [John William replied]” (152). Once again, the simple act of sacrifice in the game of chess has a greater meaning. Sacrifice was something that John William had readily accepted throughout his life, from letting go of the material world, to letting go of seventy thousand dollars. However, Neil is now learning that he doesn’t have to have everything, and he is beginning to accept John William’s point of view when he tells Jamie, “Nope” in response to her question “Are you ratting him out?” (153). He is giving up some of his “valuable” time that he has with Jamie, and that he needs to study for school, to spend with his friend that he had, at one time, dismissed as crazy. Sacrifice is the primary topic in this section, and we see that sacrifice can be used to feint one’s true intentions, and it can also be the path that leads to the happy ending, I hope…
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2 comments:
Hm... a little less polished than usual, Chris! Then again, I'm kind of falling in english as well. *shrugs* Anyway, I like how you call the idea of giving things up 'sacrifice'. It seems to me that it really isn't sacrifice, since sacrifice entails giving up something that is really valuable to you (like the money really isn't valuable to John. That's the point.) . It's more like... knowing your goals, knowing what you like and need and not striving for meaningless objectives like getting rich or owning a company or whatnot. Not that those aren't good things, but they have to have meaning to you, and John knows what holds meaning for him. So, maybe this sacrifice topic is actually discovering yourself, and what you want. You definitely have a topic there, though, whatever you want to call it!
I think that giving up what you don't really need is also sacrifice. You may not require it to get by, but it is sure to ease your way through life. Giving anything up is sacrifice, it is only the degree of sacrifice that changes. But Monica's right, it definitely a topic!
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