Yeakle Blog #3

Male Characters: Good to Bad
1. Adam Stanton
For nearly the entire novel, Adam Stanton is the moral anchor. Jack, who has been friends with Adam since they were children, considers him wholly good. At first, Adam refuses to direct the hospital even though it could gain him political power because he didn't want anything to do with the corruption in Willie's government. Jack explained, "It's very simple [...] he wants to do good." (p. 344)

2. Judge Irwin
Until Jack discovers that the Judge had been involved in a corrupted deal and taken a bribe years before, he had previously considered him to be good. He had been like a father to Jack and upheld values that place him almost at the top of the list. However, after learning about the bribe, Jack's opinion of him changes significantly, as do the opinions of Anne and Adam Stanton about the Judge. As the novel progresses, the Judge's good-ness wears thin on Jack, but his personal ties to him make Jack forgive his flaws.

3. Jack Burden
Jack is the cynical, jaded narrator of ATKM. His general outlook on life is dark, which doesn't help his own reputation. While Jack is unpredictable and unmotivated, his redeeming quality is his ability to step back from situations he doesn't want to be a part of. Due to his to-a-fault curiosity, this rarely happens, but when he doesn't want to be involved in one of Willie Talos' schemes, he isn't afraid to tell him so directly. Jack's good heart is usually overpowered by his involvement in Talos' corruption, but it does show up in his friendship with Adam and Anne and his disappointed reaction when discovering the Southern Belle Fuel Company bribe incident with the judge.

4. Willie Talos
Willie ranks #4 as he can be considered fairly "bad," but like most well written characters, is not completely good or bad. As a politician, Willie is corrupt and manipulative. His philosophy tends to be to get things done no matter the means or cost. However, his actions are things that will benefit and help people, like roads, schools, and the Willie Tallos Hospital. By having several mistresses, Willie betrays his "good" wife Lucy Talos, which makes him more "bad."

5. Tiny Duffy
While Tiny Duffy is not one of the largest (well... maybe the largest in size..) characters in ATKM, he is an antagonist influence on the other characters Willie and Jack. Duffy is only concerned with money and political power, and as Jack described, has poor skills as an actual leader and decision maker.


Female Characters: Good to Bad
1. Lucy Talos
Although she is a minor character, Lucy is the most "good" character because although she is intimately close to the shadiness of Willie Talos, she is barely involved and stays true to her own values. She stays with Willie for the sake of their son, but eventually leaves him to live a more peaceful and content life.

2. Anne Stanton
Anne is perhaps the most complex female character. Her relationship with Jack is finally explained in this section of the book, and their history reveals a lot about her personality. Throughout the beginning Anne is generally "good." Although she and Jack argue often and fall in and out of love, he always considers her to be good like her brother Adam. While her stubbornness and refusal to marry Jack come off as cold, she knew she had to make decisions carefully and consider the danger of becoming seriously involved in Jack's life, which tends to wander into gray legality. At the end of this section, it it revealed that Anne is having an affair with Willie Talos. "Yes, she, she, that Stanton girl, Anne Stanton!" (p 374) "And I did not need to [say anything]. For, looking at me, she slowly nodded." (p. 375) This significantly changes Anne's "good/bad" status with Jack, but can't be considered a major flaw because she was in no way committed to Jack at the time. Still, Willie was married and it was essentially a betrayal to Jack.

3. Sadie Burke
Sadie is not really "bad," but her working position puts her lower on the scale than Anne. While she is a strong, confident personality and vital member of the Boss' political team, she is also overly attached to Willie and controlling. She is sort of belligerent in the way that anything can trigger a yelling fit from her. Her overarching "not-goodness" is her complete involvement in the Boss' corrupt work. She does show a sense of morality in that she yells at the Boss for having prostitutes and mistresses, like the "Nordic Nymphs," but it is for her own selfish jealously rather than trying to protect Lucy.