The Emperor's Club Essay

No Regrets for the Confidence Betrayed

Cheating has been around since the dawn of time. Kids have been writing answers on their hand, arm, small pieces of paper, and using those notes to cheat on tests, quizzes, competitions, etc. The Emperor's Club shows this. In the film, Mr. Hundert is a history teacher at St. Benedick's School for Boys. His class consists of people who want to be there, learn, and achieve the great honor of being Mr. Julius Caesar. Mr. Julius Caesar is a competition that happens annually in their school to show who is the smartest student in their school. Martin Blythe, Deepak Mehta, and Louis Masoudi are three students who want greatly to be in the Mr. Julius Caesar contest, and they definitely know the material because they study at all hours of the day. However, when one student, Sedgewick Bell, joins the class, things take an unexpected turn. Sedgewick Bell is a goof-off, run-of-the-mill class clown. He simply doesn't care about school, the class--all of it. This is where Mr. Hundert gives him a book, and all the time in the world to study, and the best part is Bell chooses to study. By the end of the "finals" to determine who goes into the Mr. Julius

Julius Caesar contest (twenty-five years later). His method is a little more clever, but Mr. Hundert could still identify that he was cheating. One can only imagine how Mr. Hundert felt when he discovered Bell cheating again. People would assume: betrayal, anger, sever disappointment, and perhaps a sense of self blame. Mr. Hundert later calls Bell on his cheating after the contest, and he says, "I failed you. I didn't fail you for a grade, I failed you as a teacher." Bell then responds with that everything should be taken if one is to want it. One would assume if he wanted a rematch it would be to redeem any honor he had left. But, instead, he choses to look like he knows everything; when in reality, he knew little to