Charlotte, Katherine, and Student Battles

Alaina Woodford

University of Washington
Charlotte and Katherine

Both Charlotte and Katherine are exceptional and intelligent students, as I discover

through their professors, their peers, and themselves. In Katherines case, I see Stoner enjoying

the paper she writes for his class, and I know hes captivated by the brilliance she exhibits in her

dissertation. Additionally, Katherines in the minority in the college, as shes a female student in

the 1930s, and so she stands outto Stoner and to me as a reader. Likewise, Charlotte is

exceptionally high-achieving. I learn this about her as soon as shes introduced: the young

woman who. Shes a valedictorian with extraordinarily good grades, and her principal, Mr.

Thoms, layers on the praise for her various academic accomplishments. Later, I learn from

Starlings dissection of her paper that Starling thinks shes intelligent and insightful. All in all,

Charlotte Simmons is a bright young student. This is her defining characteristic; or at least, its

the characteristic that others use to define her. Her other defining characteristics include her

small-town naivet, her enormous self-consciousness, and her self-aggrandizing attitude.

Even from this brief summary, its easy to see that as a reader, Im given plenty of insight

into the mind of Charlotte Simmons. But Im held at something of a distance from Katherine

Driscolls mind. Almost everything about her must be glimpsed through Stoners eyes, and then

interpreted in the minds of the readers. While I can interpret plenty (such as Katherines

selflessness when she leaves Stoner), this distance severely affects my connection with her as a

character.

I wish to compare our heroines most traumatic moments in order to clarify the different

lenses through which I see them. In the most traumatic period of Charlottes story, I see her

depression, her slipping grades, her suicidal thoughts, her total dependence on Adam. I

empathize with her struggles and feel her pain as vividly as its described in her internal
monologue. When Charlotte goes home, avoids her friends and family, and sinks deeper into her

misery, I personally feel her depression very keenly. For Katherine, on the other hand, misery is

read very differently. There are only two instances in her story in which I know her to be deeply

upset. The first is when Stoner drifts away from her, thinking she is uninterested in him. From

this example, I interpret that shes somewhat dependent on Stoner at first, as judged by how she

falls ill and retreats from university life. These two signs (avoidance of her regular activities,

and how awful she looks when Stoner visits her) are the only indications I have, but I believe

they point to an intelligent mind dampened by heartbreak, much like what Charlotte goes

through. My theory of Katherines dependence upon Stoner is strengthened as she improves

rapidly when he comes back to her. The second moment of upset is when the affair is discovered

and Katherine has to leave Stoner, and in this instance she simply disappears. She accepts that

she has to leave and does so without complaint, without coercion, without much visible upset at

all. I sense this is a faade of a tough exterior. Because of Katherines earlier upset at his

distance, I cant believe that upon forever parting from the love of her life, shes cool and

collected. This apparent stoicism, along with her earlier break from university, leads me to

believe Katherine wishes to hide her upset feelings from Stoner, leading her to seem like the

hardier of the two women when I examine their psychological makeup.

Does this make Katherine a stronger person than Charlotte? I dont think so. I think its

rather a lack of a window into Katherines personality that makes her seem stoic and unaffected.

Because of my distance from Katherines mind, I cant glimpse her true emotions. I assume that

once she leaves Stoner, she goes into mourning. Maybe she grieves and then puts herself back

together, or maybe she never moves on from the love of her life. Knowing the answer would give
me a huge clue about Katherines personality and psychology, but I can only speculate, because

readers never hear from Katherine again after she leaves Stoner.

Charlottes relationship with Dr. Starling, on the other hand, is laid out clearly for the

readers. Charlotte, in her best times, is filled with awe and admiration for Starling. She fawns

over his Nobel Prize, his contributions to the field of neuroscience, and above all, the special

interest he takes in herat least for a while. Her paper catches his eye, and he invites her to

consider the field of neuroscience, but I later find that shes replaceable in his eyes. Despite how

deeply Charlotte wishes to be special to him, when her class attendance drops and her grades

plummet, a new Southern smarty takes her place and charms Dr. Starling, along with the entire

auditorium. At this point in the story, Charlotte has been broken by her trauma and depression,

and her admiration for Starling convolutes into something sicker: guilt for letting him down.

However, the disappointment and shame she feels isnt explored very deeply in her story; her

shame with him is just one more indignity shes borne or thrust upon herself because of her

deeply masochistic depression.

All in all, these two brilliant ladies engage my sympathies for their troubles, but in very

different ways. Charlottes pain strikes deeply in its specificity, whereas Katherines suffering

remains in the abstract because Im never granted firsthand knowledge of the goings-on of her

mind.

Student Battles

Adam and Walker share so many similarities and so many differences that to analyze

them against each other is bewildering. They both get caught in cheating scandals, they both

strive for success, and they both have enormous egos. So why is Adam somewhat likable, while
Walker provokes disgust? Why is it that I, the reader, receive them so very differently from each

other? In order to try to explain how they can be so similar and so unalike at the same time, I

choose to compare and contrast them across three factors: traits, likability, and intentions.

To begin with, they are both highly intelligent. Stoner is temporarily amazed by the

brilliance of Walkers dissertation when he first begins to describe it to the panel of professors,

even though Stoner has had conflicts with Walker in the past. Charlotte is likewise awed by the

sheer amount of knowledge in Adams rants to the Millennial Mutants, even though she notices

that Adam talks simply to listen to his own voice. So despite their imperfections, both Adam and

Walker have intelligence that cannot be denied. They do, however, have vastly different character

flaws. I believe this deviation is the secret to the wide gap in their likabilityI despise Walker,

while Im conflicted about the likability of Adam.

Despite Walkers high intelligence, hes strikingly lazy. While he and Lomax seem to put

plenty of effort into enabling him to cheat, Walker doesnt seem to care to put his work ethic

toward actually completing his schoolwork. Stoner interprets this as laziness, and its hard not to

agree. When Walker lies blatantly in an attempt to stop Stoner from flunking him, even his

excuses seem sloppily put together. I know Walker isnt stupid, and so it seems like the only

explanation is that he doesnt care enough to try for a real excuse. His languid justifications come

across as cocky condescension for Stoner, as if Walker believes himself immune to failure even

if he puts no effort into succeeding. Walkers pathetic excuses make him almost a wholly

unpleasant character, and he frequently comes across as slimy and simpering.

Adam, on the other hand, is someone I can occasionally root for. Despite the fact that he

cheated, and despite any problems I may have with the way he sees women, I dont want Adam

to go down for his cheating scandal, and I share in his misery when his gamble with Quat
backfires. While I originally believed that Adam was overreacting to Quats decision, I think now

that his all-encompassing misery was appropriate for someone who believed he had no future.

And his swift recovery, which I originally criticized for being so much faster than Charlottes,

actually seems appropriate to me now, considering that with one email from Quat, Adams future

had been restored. He no longer had anything to worry about, and so his extreme anxiety was no

longer necessary.

And so Adam, if overly invested in academics, has troubles that I can sympathize with.

As a part-time narrator of I Am Charlotte Simmons, Adam gives me a close-up view of his story,

through his eyes. I see his struggles, his private thoughts, his deepest insecurities, his secret

desires. I know Adam better than I know Walker, because I have insight into his mind. I

hypothesize that I wouldnt like Adam nearly so much if I didnt know anything about his

backstory with his mother, his all-consuming (if mildly repulsive) love for Charlotte, or his big

plans in life. After all, Adams ambitioushe wants a Rhodes scholarship, success, and the kind

of status that makes people listen to him. His cheating is like a subplot, because he doesnt cheat

to take the easy way out, or to speed himself closer to success. Instead, he cheats to earn the

money he needs to put himself through school. Therefore, at least in my eyes, his cheating is

morally higher than Walkers because Adams is (arguably) for a good reason.

Additionally, his cheating is not an example of laziness; its rather an example of duty. He

cheats because he knows thats what the athletics program expects of him, and he works for the

athletics program because he needs the money. I can almost convince myself that Adam had no

choice but to cheat. And even though he cheats, Adam works hardhis cheating in fact amplifies

his workload. Walkers cheating, on the other hand, is dirt-low for me. He cheats for shortcuts,

for a Ph.D. in English that he doesnt study for or work for, and therefore doesnt deserve. He
falsifies his knowledge and seems not to care one bit. His cheating is not the open-handed

helping of others to pass; he is morally disgusting, a leech on a program in which he doesnt

belong, undeserving of his place.

As I mentioned, Adam gives part of the narration through his own eyes. Walker does not.

I believe much of the difference in their reception stems from this narration gap. In Stoner, the

entire narrative takes place through Stoners eyes, and Stoner hates Walkerhates him and pities

him for how pathetic he is. Readers of I Am Charlotte Simmons see Adam through his own eyes,

and the eyes of Hoyt, Jojo, and Charlotte. The latter three find him mostly harmless, if pathetic,

and Walker is seen in much the same way. Perhaps there isnt as huge a difference between them

after allperhaps Im just tempted to make excuses for Adam because Ive been inside his mind.

It seems when Im given a window to Adams thoughts, its difficult not to cut him some slack.

This is a privilege Walker isnt granted.