Summary Of Victory Lap By George Saunders

Lucy Strandquist Professor Hart Questions of Character Thursday, September 26th.

The Power of Commiseration as seen in George Saunders’ “Victory Lap”.

Authors of “Villains, Victims, and Heroes in Character Theory and Affect Control Theory” Bergstrand and Jasper state, "Characters are caricatures, oversimplifications that exaggerate certain features of a player and ignore many of its complexities.” (Berstrand and Jasper, 232). Yet, George Saunders directly undermines this statement in his short story “Victory Lap” by creating well-rounded characters you can hate and love all at once. The story follows Kyle Boot, a 15-year-old cross-country runner, and his naive neighbor Alison. It is the telling of a normal day in the neighborhood of the teens

Kyle is a runner on his school’s cross-country team. His speed is the power that allows him to take on the role of hero, as it is what permits him to save Alison at the end of the story. Though he does have power, I feel that Kyle's defining hero characteristic is his urge to do good. He wants to save Alison, and eventually at the end of the story, he does, like a true hero. Heroes are typically strong in one way or another, fairly self-assured, good-natured, and go-getters, yet the protagonist, Kyle, is neither of those (Bergstrand and Jasper, 230). From Kyle’s point of view, Saunders uses an inner dialogue between himself and his father to shatter any assertion that Kyle is a ‘typical’ hero. Kyle is constantly fighting an internal battle with his father, essentially begging him for autonomy and validation. While we, the reader, empathize with Kyle, Saunders disregards the reader’s desire for Kyle to gain the validation he craves and even shows Kyle’s father telling him that his “ego seems to be overflowing its banks” when Kyle tries to prove to his father that he is good at something (14). Before this, Alison even mentions “How could he run so well when he seemed to have literally no muscles?” (8). Kyle is constantly portrayed as weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he ends up saving Alison’s life. Even when faced with

Alison is a sheltered girl who even “voted for people being good and life being fun” in her ethics class (9). Saunders’ witty use of metaphor and imagination shows us that even in Alison’s imagination, she truly believes that good conquers all, as seen in an imagination where a hunter kills a fawn’s mother, and she forgives him without a second thought (6). Throughout the story, Alison takes on the role of victim, as she is depicted as weak in many aspects, including but not limited to her gender identity, her size, and her demeanor. But how much of the role of the victim is simply a stereotype? Victims are stereotypically depicted as female, and Alison even goes as far as to say that the fact that she couldn't bake brownies was “embarrassing, actually, being a girl and all.” (7). Throughout the story, Saunders only reflects on the socialization of Alison, rather than her character. I feel that this quote intends to show that Alison is not like every other girl, yet Saunders doesn’t afford Alison the dignity to save herself. Even as the attacker is walking Alison to his van with a knife held to her, she is described as “marching along all meek like the trouper he’d known she’d be.” (18). Throughout the story, although I would love to be able to say otherwise, I believe that Saunders