Pistol Poets

Title: The Pistol Poets

Author: Victor Gischler

Date Published: February 2004

Number of Pages: 340

1. Most Significant Characters

In this story there were not many characters other than the main characters who had much importance on the outcome of the story. The most significant characters in the story were two characters by the names of Jay Morgan and Harold Jenks.

Jay Morgan- Professor Jay Morgan was a man who very stressed who was forced to switch schools to teach each year. Switching schools caused many problems for Morgan. Some of the problems included were financial troubles and social troubles. Jay Morgan did not have a steady paycheck because of all his switching. Morgan had very little time to make many friends because he was never at one school for more than 6-8 months.

Professor Jay Morgan was a man who was not a very loyal person whatsoever. Morgan was very untrustworthy and often made decisions that were deemed irresponsible and irrational. Aside from Morgan’s lack of good judgment he was overall a very nice person and he was a good friend to many.

Harold Jenks- Harold Jenks also known as Jenks was a hardcore gangster who in his teenage years thought about nobody other than himself. As Jenks grew older he also grew wiser and realized that he could not keep up his gangster ways. Harold Jenks was feared in his neighborhood but in all actuality he was a man with a very kind heart, and someone who had intentions in all the right places. Harold Jenks’ slip up was most definitely hanging out with the wrong types of people.

2. Minor Characters

There were many characters who had minor impacts on the outcome of the story, some of these characters include a girl by the name of Ginny Conrad and a man by the name of professor Greg Valentine.

Ginny Conrad- Ginny was a girl who loved to be spontaneous and wild. Ginny was a student at Eastern Oklahoma University and was a very hard working student. She was a person who got along with many people and was also very easy-going.

Greg Valentine- Professor Greg Valentine was a man who very much like Jay Morgan was not very trustworthy at all. All though Professor Valentine was not trustworthy many people would often seek him for advice because of his very caring personality. Professor Valentine was a man who was easy to talk to and often gave very good advice on complex situations.

3. Two Main Settings

This book contains many places in which the story takes twists and turns. When thinking of a climatic point Professor Jay Morgan’s house comes to mind. At Jay Morgan’s house Ginny Walsh was raped by a man by the name of Derek Stubbs.

The raping of Ginny Walsh had an impact on the story because as it turns out Derek Stubbs was not out to get Ginny Walsh, He was actually after Jay Morgan. If Derek Stubbs could so brutally attack somebody he had no problems with, one can only imagine what he would do to Jay Morgan who he was after.

Another place in which the setting had an effect on the story was inside of Professor Greg Valentine’s apartment on the 5th floor of Eastern Oklahoma University. Inside of Professor Valentine’s apartment was where all his discussions and advice giving took place.

4. Summarization

There was a man by the name of Jay Morgan who was a teacher. Jay Morgan had been forced to move and transfer from many different schools because of his poor behavior and his irrational decisions. One grand mistake which he committed was the sexual involvement with one of his students, an offense which he was repeating at Eastern Oklahoma University. Jay Morgan had a night of drinking at a local bar near the campus of EOU and at the end of the night he returned home with one of his students. In the morning when he awoke he found that Annie Walsh, the girl which he went home with, was laying dead on his bed. Jay Morgan could not afford another offense against his teaching career or that would be the end of teaching for him. After Thoroughly thinking things out he realized that the only way he had out of this predicament was to do everything possible to make sure that nobody found out about his wild night out with his student.

To make sure that nobody would find out about his wild night out Jay Morgan enlisted the help of his friend by the name of Patrick Reams, a local mobster in the city of Oklahoma. Along with the help of Reams he also asked Ginny Conrad for her help in saying that she was with Annie Walsh all night long. Ginny Conrad who was also