The_Mother_Tongue_Character_Analysis

Not a Typical Protector In the Mother Tongue by Teri Holbrook, Alby Truitt was introduced as the sheriff of Statlers Cross. Truitt does not have the stereotypical traits of small town law enforcement. I have watched movies where the activities of small town law enforcement could be corrupt or biased due to the town being very rural which could possibly be overlooked by many bigger agencies. With this type of behavior of law enforcement portrayed in small towns, I believe that Truitt’s actions are the opposite and would be positive in any situation involving love, life, or death. It seems that Alby Truitt’s childhood does not affect his responsibilities as sheriff because the people favored him. This novel gives geography of Statlers Cross which paints a picture of the upper, middle, and lower class citizens based on location. Holbrook explains that Truitt grew up outside of town, and he is explored as the son of a drug dealer who dabbled in drugs, and he returned from college and went into law enforcement (Holbrook 21). Children may choose to live their lives different than their parents, or they may choose to live their lives different from any behavior considered questionable. With Truitt being elected sheriff, it shows that this type of behavior is acceptable. In the novel, Teri Holbrook states, “Everyone knew this corner of the county bred a rough lot; the fact that one of its sons would decide to use his roughness in the name of the law was rational and a comfortable thing (Holbrook 21). Truitt is concerned in the novel that his deputy is aware of his childhood concerning his father dealing drugs, but he did not let that stop his investigation. I would view Truitt as determined because he wanted to change the way others might react to him based on the actions of his father. In this novel, Truitt has proved to be a professional sheriff of Statlers Cross. When the bodies were found in the car, the coroner explained to Truitt that the two guys in the front of the car could have been sitting in traffic while Mr. Nugent was tied up like a hog in the back (Holbrook 27). Truitt did not find the humor in his statement, and his deputy had to correct the coroner with the last name of the victim in the back of the car. This behavior could be considered stereotypical of a small town which is unprofessional. Truitt told the coroner, “John, I’m your colleague, not your boss. But I really wish you would be more aware of how you phrase things” (Holbrook 27). Truitt’s responsibility with this investigation came before his friendship with the coroner. Truitt takes his job seriously when apparently others around him do not. Truitt shows compassion to a new member of the community that seemed above and beyond the normal extent of emotion of sympathy or empathy. Truitt came to the Tea Room to ask Le if she recognized the picture on a driver’s license, he knelt down beside her (Holbrook 41). This behavior showed Le that Truitt genuinely cared for her emotions after the devastating news. He was telling her that he was a crutch for her at that moment. He explained to Le that the license was on a man involved in an automobile accident. He did not offer the information that this person was murdered. If Truitt was biased he would not have shown that type of concern, but he embraced her as a human being with feelings. Truitt wanted to be informed, so he educated himself about the significance of the color blue in the Vietnamese community to better understand the situation. Truitt took it upon himself to call a person by the name of Dr. Wiley Dawkins who is a cultural conflict consultant (Holbrook 183). He explained to Dr. Dawkins that a family by the last name Nguyen who were Vietnamese painted their house an electric blue color. He mentioned the location of this house as and added cause of the rift within the public. Dr. Dawkins explained to Truitt that the color represents prosperity, of wealth (Holbrook 185). Truitt took the first step to be better informed concerning this incident so that he could pass this knowledge on to the town. Alby Truitt banished any thought of subjective conduct in a quote from our online discussion board of the men in this novel. Lauren Harris said, “The town of Statler Cross was not open-mined to allowing diversity, but Truitt hired a Deputy, Craig Haskell, which was African American, college graduate from Baltimore, Maryland (Lauren Harris 1). If Truitt was suspicious of Haskell’s ethnicity or hometown, he would not have hired Haskell to be his deputy. Truitt knew that he would be interacting side by side with Haskell everyday, so by this action Truitt escapes any stereotype. In this essay, Alby Truitt stood out as an extraordinary protector despite stereotypical traits of law enforcement from a small town. His reaction to current members of the community was consistent with his reaction to new members of the community. His non biased personality allowed him to keep his head down and dig to uncover evidence in his investigation. He did not travel down a road to self destruction from childhood. I believe Truitt to be a good role model for law enforcement today. It seems that there is too much politics and not enough of really getting to know what is best for a community