Calico Joe Character Analysis

We all have something that we are afraid of. No matter what is is though, we have one thing in common. We fear what we don’t understand. In Calico Joe, by John Grisham, there are several cases in which fearing what we don’t understand is present. Calico Joe is a book written in the point of view of Paul, the son of a cold-hearted, neglectful, Mets pitcher. When his father knocks out his childhood idol, Joe Castle, with a beanball, creating permanent brain damage, Paul’s life takes a turn for the worse. In the end however, Paul convinces his father to apologize, and Joe accepts very willingly. Warren, who is Paul’s father, has several instances where he fears something because he doesn’t understand it.

Throughout all of the book, Warren presents himself as an extremely egotistical man who thinks he is better than the rest of society. Even when Paul was a child he would make everything about him. Later in the book, Paul speaks about what Warren thinks about himself. “He’s special. He played the game. Maybe he didn’t put up Hall of Fame

Warren was afraid to accept the fact that he wasn’t the best, because he didn’t understand how to be modest. He was afraid of his cancer because he didn’t understand that he wasn’t invincible. He was also afraid of letting Joe showing him up and making him look bad because he didn’t understand that that isn’t what Joe meant to do. In the end of Calico Joe, by John Grisham, I believe that Warren realized how he had been scared because of his lack of understanding, and decided to apologize to Joe to try and make things right. Joe, as a matter of fact, appreciated the apology, and the conflict of the book was resolved. The belief that we fear what we do not understand can be applied to our own lives as well. Just like Warren became aware of his own fears and absence of understanding, we can also do the same and try to make things