Characters
Chapter 4 Character list
Mother Langan: was from San Francisco who parted ways from her family. She had four boys with four different fathers. Husband 1 disappeared before the first child, Chris, was born. The second husband was murdered. The third husband committed suicide. Her fourth and final husband is a failed journalist named Jack Langan. She was not well educated about Chris’ scholarship. She did not fill out the paperwork to reinstate Chris for the full scholarship.
Chris Langan: Grew up very poor. As a child he only had one set of clothes. His socks were mismatched; his shoes had holes in them; and his pants had holes in them. His real father had walked out on him before he was born. His stepfather, Jack, was very abusive to him. Chris and his family moved to Bozeman, Montana. At age fourteen he started to lift weights in order to protect himself and his brothers. One night he got so upset with Jack that he knocked him unconscious in a fight. After graduation from Bozeman, Chris attended Reed College on a full scholarship. At Reed Chris spent most of his time in the library due to his roommates, who smoked marijuana. After losing his scholarship, he moved back to Bozeman and worked construction. He gave up on a higher education after being treated so poorly during his school experience. He was offered a job position at Harvard which he refused because he felt that, “ Harvard is basically a glorified corporation, operating with a profit incentive."
Jack Langan: was an abusive alcoholic who would tend to flee the family. He would starve his sons; he used to whip them if they got out of line; and was an all around horrible “father” to them. He would find work and always lose it. His lack of work made the family move frequently. He was such a horrible father that the family was living off of government issued food. After Chris knocked him unconscious, Jack left the family for good.
Robert Oppenheimer: the American physicist who created the Nuclear Bomb during World War II. He studied physics at Harvard and got his Doctorate at Cambridge University. One day he stole chemicals and tried to poison his tutor, Patrick Blackett. He was put on probation after trying to kill his tutor.
Patrick Blackett: was Oppenheimer’s tutor. He won the Nobel Prize in 1948. He force Oppenheimer to do physics experiments that he did not like.
Groves: was an engineer by training with a graduate degree from MIT.
Annette Lareau was the sociologist who did a study on twelve different families of all different backgrounds. She studied behavioral acts and how they affected the family.
Katie Brindle: a white girl who Lareau studied. She was in the school choir and was in middle working class family.
Alex Williams: a black, nine year old who Lareau studied. His mothers name is Christina. She teaches Alex about his right to speak up.
Mother Langan: was from San Francisco who parted ways from her family. She had four boys with four different fathers. Husband 1 disappeared before the first child, Chris, was born. The second husband was murdered. The third husband committed suicide. Her fourth and final husband is a failed journalist named Jack Langan. She was not well educated about Chris’ scholarship. She did not fill out the paperwork to reinstate Chris for the full scholarship.
Chris Langan: Grew up very poor. As a child he only had one set of clothes. His socks were mismatched; his shoes had holes in them; and his pants had holes in them. His real father had walked out on him before he was born. His stepfather, Jack, was very abusive to him. Chris and his family moved to Bozeman, Montana. At age fourteen he started to lift weights in order to protect himself and his brothers. One night he got so upset with Jack that he knocked him unconscious in a fight. After graduation from Bozeman, Chris attended Reed College on a full scholarship. At Reed Chris spent most of his time in the library due to his roommates, who smoked marijuana. After losing his scholarship, he moved back to Bozeman and worked construction. He gave up on a higher education after being treated so poorly during his school experience. He was offered a job position at Harvard which he refused because he felt that, “ Harvard is basically a glorified corporation, operating with a profit incentive."
Jack Langan: was an abusive alcoholic who would tend to flee the family. He would starve his sons; he used to whip them if they got out of line; and was an all around horrible “father” to them. He would find work and always lose it. His lack of work made the family move frequently. He was such a horrible father that the family was living off of government issued food. After Chris knocked him unconscious, Jack left the family for good.
Robert Oppenheimer: the American physicist who created the Nuclear Bomb during World War II. He studied physics at Harvard and got his Doctorate at Cambridge University. One day he stole chemicals and tried to poison his tutor, Patrick Blackett. He was put on probation after trying to kill his tutor.
Patrick Blackett: was Oppenheimer’s tutor. He won the Nobel Prize in 1948. He force Oppenheimer to do physics experiments that he did not like.
Groves: was an engineer by training with a graduate degree from MIT.
Annette Lareau was the sociologist who did a study on twelve different families of all different backgrounds. She studied behavioral acts and how they affected the family.
Katie Brindle: a white girl who Lareau studied. She was in the school choir and was in middle working class family.
Alex Williams: a black, nine year old who Lareau studied. His mothers name is Christina. She teaches Alex about his right to speak up.
Shawn Stearns