Assignment Five: Sam Clark

I’m no fool. I’ve read my David Foster Wallace. I’ve traveled the world. If you want me to, I can quote back prose about what a passive form of entertainment Television (yes, it merits a capital “t”) is, how it’s singlehandedly destroyed the American ethos. But I’m no monkey, paid with good grades to mindlessly quote back opinions soon forgotten. Instead, I will tell a story of a good translator, a great man, and a friend never to be forgotten. When I first found Georges, he was barely human, curled up in a ball in one of those television lounges which were popular in Grenada at the time. I needed a translator, and, with his countless hours spent watching American television, Georges fit the bill. I hired him at once. At first, our relationship was fraught with strife. Georges had to return to his studio each night to watch Television. To break him of this addiction, this affliction, I stole his Television and bribed the members of all the Grenadian Television clubs not to let him in. At first, he resisted, saying that I was abridging his rights as a free man. Day and night he cried out for his Television, tearing his clothes, wringing his hands, consumed in a feverish nightmare. But soon he gave in. The spirit of the Television was driven into swine running off a cliff. Georges was free. Though it does not do so directly, I think Geoges’ story answers all three of the posed questions. Goodnight Georges! May God have mercy on your soul!