Character Notes:
Joe Ehrmann
• Appearance: Big masculine white guy with a big head of brown curly hair and a brown beard.
• Thoughts: That boys should be taught how to become real men and end the cycle of false manhood among men everywhere. Joe says on page 15, “I see myself as being free in the sense that I don’t have a lot of responsibilities. I’m not tied to a lot of things … pretty carefree and casual. And I like to party. I like to party a lot.”
• Actions: Coached Gilman high school football team, played with the Baltimore Colts, and became a reverend that talked about false manhood and how to teach boys to be real men.
• What people think of him: That he is a good football player for the Baltimore Colts and a great coach of Gilman High School. Jeffrey Marx • Appearance: A white kid that finished 6th grade and had a ton of curly hair. …show more content…
• Thoughts: Wanting to spend all his time with the Baltimore colts. Jeffrey said this inside his head on page 11, “Ballboy. A euphemism. The ballboy is jack-of-all-dirty-jobs in a football training camp. Pick up towels, pick up jock, launder socks, shine shoes, haul ice, sweep floor, be there before the players, stay late. Long hours, hard work—heaven.”
• Actions: Helped around the locker room and handing out drinks for the players and writing letters to the team while he was away from them occasionally allowed to make a long distance phone call.
• What people think of him: A courageous young boy that wanted to spend every waking moment with the Colts.
Major Events: 1. The season opener football game between Gilman and Dematha. 2. Becoming a friend of the Baltimore Colts, leading him to meet Joe Ehrmann. 3. The football game between Gilman and the Hawks of Urbana. 4. Joe Ehrmann talking the problem of false masculinity and how boys are not taught how to be real men. 5. Gilman beating Dematha in the second football game against them. Themes: 1. Masculinity • Joe Ehrmann talks about how society throws the definition of masculinity out of proportion. • Joe says on page 73, “We compare, we compete. That’s all we ever do. It leaves most men feeling isolated and alone. And it destroys any concept of community.” • We see strength and the ability to control a situation as masculinity. • What true masculinity is our relationship with friends and family, and our fond memories together with them. 2. Relationships • Joe talked about that when we have no real relationships with people it adds on to false masculinity. • Joe says on page 74, “Because there’s no relational piece to it at all. All I can present to you is my façade. Here’s what my external masculinity looks like. And I’ll let you interface with this façade, if I ever let you in past my athletic accomplishments, past my sexual feats, past my economic successes, and I let you see this ‘shamed’ Joey Ehrmann ... my sense is that you’ll recognize me for who and what I really am … and you’ll walk away. So therefore I’m not letting you in. We can still interact with each other. We can go to a baseball game together,