Essay on "Silent Joe" by T. Jefferson Parker, a Masterful Study in the creation of a Character

Essay on Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker Student: Eric Kasum Advisor: Rachel Pollack Goddard College February 21, 2004 - Winter/Spring I first heard about Silent Joe at the Bare Bones Writers Retreat, held in the mountains above San Diego by the Sisters In Crime. T. Jefferson Parker, its author, was invited to speak. The buzz: "I couldn't put the book down." Everyone seemed to agree that Silent Joe was the best-written character they'd ever seen. …

…of us who've had the faces of our psyches splashed by battery acid - a metaphor for human cruelty - know that you usually don't die. You just keep living, with your open wound that never stops bleeding. Like Joe, you just go on each day, one foot in front of the other, trudging through the storm of life, leaning into the gale, searching for some meaning. And in the end, are there any answers?