Fourth Reading Response

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The Climax has arrived everyone!

In part 3 known as "Jack's Wager", the three musketeers of crime discover they can only go so long without getting caught. Virgil, the co-brain of the operations at this point, is the "mark" and is being framed by a group of swindlers, identities unknown, who will reveal his real name of Giuseppe Balsamo to the authorities to have him put away in jail if not paid "$50 000. Fortunately for Jack, Virgil and Rose give him an opportunity to escape and leave, a chance to leave unscathed. However, he doesn't take the bait. He decides for the two's sake, to stay with them for the long haul.

Avoiding beat-downs, scary one-on-one encounters, the "almost mob", Jack's true colours begin to emerge and he reveals a sinister, conniving counterpart to the once innocent Jack McGreary. With Virgil involved in the biggest scam of his career, Jack pulls off his own to save his partner's hide. It amazes me how incredibly quick-thinking he is. I have never come across a character that is quite as intelligent as Jack. He may not use it for the best of reasons, but boy does he know how to apply every, single thing he has learned in the past few months from Rose and Virgil. Quick-thinking, intelligence, lying, and although he would admit it, luck helped him and his pose out of a near-death situation.

The final few chapters in the novel are when I notice the greatest changes in Jack as a character. He sheds the blue collar for a pair of expensive Italian leathers. He may not be high class, but he is no simpleton anymore. A factory worker who couldn't get the girl or grades transforming like a butterfly into a crafted or crafty, which ever you prefer, con artist with an uncanny ability to see beyond the scope of a simple con. He has a realm of worldly experience, one that he would never had received in Paradise Flats. His way of thinking and perceiving others, judging first and getting to know later is now rule of thumb.

That's why I was so surprised when Jack didn't decide to accompany Virgil and Rose after he saved them from the framed swindle. Instead he took a suitcase to the train station to head home, send his poor father the money he had been saving through his cons to pay for living expenses and then head North to Canada to sign up for the emerging War overseas. I always suspected he wouldn't fully change his ways, but I didn't expect him to leave them and go to War. I never imagined him in that light. He is incredibly smart, I was taken aback in his decision. Maybe because I have foresight into the War and I could predict that accompanying the two would bring a longer and hopefully more prosperous life than a life at War.

I was however pleased and impressed at the very end. Jack stayed true to his con. He tricked his partner Virgil into the "suitcase switch", tricking Virgil into taking his suitcase full of clothing, and Jack taking off with all their hard earnings. All Virgil could say was "That kid just stole all our money" and Rose replying "He didn't steal it. You gave it to him". A true revolution of role identity. Virgil outsmarted and made to be the halfwit by his Great apprentice Jack. Grasshopper finally jumped higher then the master.