Emmett

Emmett is a thirty-five year old man with lots of pimples on his face. He has headaches and a bad temper all the time. He used to go to Murray State but he dropped out and owes the government over five hundred dollars. He went to jail because he got arrested for the flag incident in the courthouse tower. Emmett doesn't have a job, a family or a girlfriend. His daily activities are: eat breakfast with his old friends at McDonalds; play video games; and watch M.A.S.H. on TV. Emmett is an incredibly sluggish person. This was my first impression of Emmett me when I started to read this book. However, by reading more and more about Emmett, I figured out he is a really loving person. He shows his love and consideration for his family and friends more than for himself. Besides, he never does anything to hurt anyone. Emmett is just an altruistic person whom I think is the model of the true beauty of all mankind.

Emmett used to be a good student in school until Dwayne's death during the Vietnam War; it was a turning point in Emmett's life. Emmett joined the army voluntarily because he wanted to comfort Irene by taking revenge for Dwayne. "I felt I owed something to Emmett because he'd gone over there for my sake." (171) But good deeds don't always work well. During the war, Emmett was poisoned by Agent Orange and had to cope with a bunch of physical as well as mental illnesses for the rest of his life. Emmett was discharged after he came back from the war. He used to live with Irene before she married Larry and moved to Lexington. However, Emmett was so considerate and did not want to be a burden to Irene. He showed his love for his sister by sacrificing himself in the war and being happy for her in her new marriage.

Emmett hid his love from Anita because he thought Anita was too good for him. All the lingering effects he got after the war made Emmett keep a great distance from Anita. He though it would be a tortuous relationship if Anita married him, because they might not be able to have sex and start a family properly. He had no confident for this relationship since he had such a bad temper. He could not control it because his headaches irritated him all the time. For these reasons, he chose to refuse any love from Anita.

After reading Dwayne's diary, Sam could not accept the things that her father and Emmett had done in Vietnam and she decided to run away. Emmett was so nervous when Sam ran away because he was afraid that Sam would get hurt or commit suicide. He went to Cawood Pond to look for her immediately. When