Essay #2: Wexford (A Portrait of Evil)
The character Wexford of the book Peace Breaks Out, is by no question an atypical
adolescent. He is different than the rest of his peers, Wexford is an evil villain. But, as well as
being evil he is also extremely bright, he goes about his business very smart and without having
to
do any of the dirty work. He is smarter than the average teenage boy. He is more mature and
more prepared to face the real world.
From the start of the book when the characters are first introduced to us it is evident that
Wexford is different from the other boys. When Eric Hochschwender was stating his opinion of
American History most of the other boys just let him say what he wants and even though they are
offended they keep it to themselves. Not Wexford he ignites what will become a never-ending
conflict between he and Hochschwender. Wexford challenges Eric?s opinion and doesn?t give
up.
These conflicts continued everyday on every issue that arose. This is an example of how
Wexford
always has to have his way, and if he doesn?t get it at first he will not give up until he does. And
if some one happens to be in the way of what he is trying to accomplish he will by all means
necessary make sure that they do not remain there too long.
Wexford also differs from his peers in the way that he is not very interested in athletics.
He would much rather be doing more along the lines of reading, playing the piano, or writing
editorials for the school paper. In other words, he would rather be exercising his mind than his
body. This would be a problem do to the fact that every student that attended Devon was
required to participate in athletics each season. Although this rule had no exceptions Wexford
found a way around it. He told Pete Hallum and the other masters that he was on the golf team
in
the fall and cross-country skiing in the winter. He had somebody sign his name every day on the
attendance sheet. By doing this he gave himself more free time to do the things that were more
important and more interesting to him.
Wexford is obsessed with having all of the power. He needed to be in the spotlight all
the
time. Wexford was also excited by danger, he enjoyed it if somebody actually gave him a
challenge. This is one reason that he respected Pete Hallum. If somebody stood in his way of
getting the power he would get rid of them. But he would not make it obvious that he was
behind
it, he would not be involved in the dirty work. He would have people do that part of the job for
him. It was almost like he had them working for him, although the people doing the dirty work
were unaware. For instance Wexford hated Eric Hochschwender with a deep passion. This was
not because he had different views and opinions on things, but it was because Eric was trying to
take some of his power from him. Wexford was aware of this from the beginning of the book.
When he says, ?so you want to be funny. Now I?m going to be funny too, very funny.? By this
he was sort of warning Hochschwender to stay out of his way. Hochschwender disregarded this
statement and didn?t think anything of it. Hochschwender continued to be a nuisance to
Wexford,
Wexford finally got sick of it. He began thinking of a plan and plotting Hochschwender?s
downfall. This downfall turned out to be his death. Wexford collected money and with the head
master?s approval had a memorial window for those former Devon students had fought in the
war
constructed by an artist to put in the chapel. Wexford went into the chapel one night and
shattered
this window that he himself had thought of. The window practically belonged to him and he had
destroyed it. Nobody expected this, not even for a second. At first people thought that it could
have been Tug Blackburn, due to his concussion to the brain, he was somewhat out of his head.
The doctor confirmed that it couldn?t have been Tug, since he was under heavy sleeping pills he
couldn?t have moved from his bed. Naturally the next person suspected was Eric
Hochschwender, since he was a German Nazi and hated the American war veterans. This is
exactly what Wexford wanted people to believe. The Pembroke boys felt strongly that the
culprit
was indeed Eric Hochschwender. They decided to take matters into their own hands, this is also
what Wexford wanted. They followed him upriver one day and dragged him out of his one man
skull. They began dunking him under water trying to get it out of him. Suddenly Eric lost
consciousness. The boys thought that he had just fainted. They rushed him to the infirmary and
the doctors took over. After much commotion Eric Hochschwender passed away. This is not at
all what the Pembroke boys wanted. But for Wexford it got Eric well out of the picture. This is
an excellent example of how Wexford had others do his dirty work for him. Wexford now had
absolute power and got away with it perfectly. This is indeed the characteristics of a good
villain.
Wexford definitely showed that he was an atypical adolescent many different ways
throughout the story. He was different in the little ways such as his excessive drinking and
smoking habits, also in the way that he was such an individual. But the other things he did were
what made it obvious. Such as the amazing schemes that he thought up and got away with, and
how he tricked others into doing them for him. This is what separated him and made him
superior
to the others. He was an evil villain, and a damn good one. In the end of the novel he is referred
to as a ?monster?. This in my eyes is the absolute perfect description of him. People like that do
indeed grow up to become monsters. And the thing that makes it so hard to stop them is that
they are usually extremely intelligent, as Wexford is. They will continue to destruct things and
raise havoc wherever it is that they go. And it will take somebody with enough guts and smarts
to
challenge them and attempt to put them to an end.