Joe Whitlock's Family Affair

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Just as the title states; “Family Affair”, this story is about a family vacation, but there is someone that is not apart of the Carlton family, Joe Whitlock. Whitlock is not only an uninvited companion to their vacation, but also a criminal who escaped from jail and is on the run. He is a determined, suspicious and fearless man, that they only find out is an escaped prisoner thanks to their young son. Throughout the entire story “Family Affair”, Joe Whitlock is very suspicious of the Carlton family, and their actions; what they will assumingly tell everyone possible about his being there. This happens more than once throughout the story, “The man paused and looked suspiciously at the boy…” (Hardwick-p. 2/3 ). Another example is when Tom Carlton, the father of the two children, stops for gas and goes to sign the page needed to finish up, and whitlock tells him to sign while he was watching. “Just sign on the dotted line, mister. While I’m watching.” (Hardwick-p.3/3). Although Joe Whitlock may not be very observant, he can also be very dedicated to his plan and determined to complete it without being caught. …show more content…

For example, he not once in the story gave up on his plan to escape from prison and get away with it. “I’ve been waiting a long time for just one car to be in here.” (Hardwick-p.1/3). Also, Whitlock is very dedicated because throughout the story he tried very hard to get the Carlton family to act and seem normal in front and near police officers. Another example of Whitlock’s Determination is even when he hears about how the police were stopping everyone while searching for Agriculture Department

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