A Diamond Guitar

"A Diamond Guitar"
Truman Capote

"When another man receives a letter, he brings it to Mr. Schaeffer. Most of these letters are sad and complaining; very often Mr. Schaeffer improvises more cheerful messages and does not read what is written on the page. In the sleep house there are two other men who can read. Even so, one of them brings his letters to Mr. Schaeffer, who obliges be never reading the truth. Mr. Schaeffer himself does not receive mail, not even on Christmas."

I chose this quote because it is point in the story where I fell in love with Mr. Schaeffer as a character. At this point I would describe Mr. Schaeffer as a selfless caretaker. He never gets letters himself, which is really sad. Instead of being bitter about this, however, he tries to make getting mail a positive experience for everyone else.

The story describes him as a man who has the respect of everyone, even the Captain. That is shown in this quote too. Even the men who can read, want Mr. Schaeffer to read their mail for them.

Before we learn that Mr. Schaeffer is at the farm for murdering another man, there is a lot of evidence to support the fact that he is holds the caretaker roll. When Tico Feo first came and played the guitar, Mr. Scaheffer comments on how nice it was to hear all of men laughing. It is a very parental trait to find joy in the joy of others. He then makes sure that Tico Feo adjusts comfortably by congratulating him after he plays, gives him dolls for his sister, and befriends him quickly. Once they become friends, Mr. Schaeffer remarks several times that Tico Feo is still growing and needs more than he does for he is old. He gives him candy bars and oranges that he buys with his own money. It is very like a parent to give all they have to younger people and to concern themselves with the young person's growth.

Mr. Schaeffer is to me, what people call a Hemingway Hero or Anti-Hero. Even though he is in jail for murder, you cant help but love him and want to him to be happy. He reminds me of a character from the TV show How I met your mother. Barney Stinson, one of the characters does not know who his father is and often hints to the fact that his mother was not the greatest mother in the world, however both Barney and viewers of the show can't help but love her. She, like Mr. Schaeffer, made mistakes, but always did all she could do to make her son happy. When no one came to his birthday party, Loretta told her son that they got a letter from the Postmaster General apologizing for losing all of the invitations. When he got  cut from the basketball team, she told him it was because he was so good that it wasn't fair to the other kids. Both Loretta and Mr. Scheffer try to keep everyone else happy, even while making mistakes and not being all that happy themselves.