Mistakes In Bleachers, By John Grisham

Nothing in this earthly life is perfect. Making mistakes is simply a part of human nature, but how one acts in response to those past mistakes makes the difference in one’s future. Whether one faces the results of one’s actions, or avoids the circumstances, one cannot hide from the inevitable consequences. The past cannot be escaped, for as fast as one runs, it will always catch up. In Bleachers by John Grisham, Messina High School’s legacy quarterback Neely Crenshaw, cannot protect himself from his past catching up with him. As a football star in the small town of Messina one could do no wrong. The town worshiped their football team and did not want to see them put to shame. The players could do as they pleased, with little regard to what

Rake’s career ended in 1992, after a brutal Sunday morning practice lead player Scotty Reardon to die of heatstroke. Rake’s responsibility for Scotty’s death turned the Reardon family against Rake. Scotty’s uncle was the superintendent of education at the school, which gave him the power to fire the famous coach. Eddie Rake filed a law suit, but because the Reardon family had money, they were willing to pay any amount to put Rake down. Rake lost the lawsuit and lost his job. After the incident, Coach Rake isolated himself from the town. He did not join Messina in the stands for football games, he avoided public, and steered clear of any major crowds. Rather than facing the town and being constantly persecuted, Rake read novels to escape the reality of what happened. He would rather get lost in the action of a fictional world than the petty gossip circulating his small town. The narrow plots of his favorite bestsellers were able to temporarily relieve the pain of what happened, but could do nothing to change the past. One could read about hundreds of problems that hundreds of different characters have, but it could not solve the problem one might have waiting in the real

Since then, the memory of his glory days pained him. The town of Messina expected their prize player to receive fame and success, so Neely knew they would be disappointed by his slow going real estate job and devastating divorce. This is why he wanted to forget his days of football and his persistent coach. By not visiting Messina and avoiding talk of football, Neely tried to escape. Unable to rid himself of the past, Neely had Coach Rake’s voice permanently embedded in his head, motivating him to do his best, lecturing him about his mistakes, and judging him on every aspect of his life. A person who leaves such an impact on one’s life, as Rake did, can never fully leave it. That is person is always in the back of one’s mind, subtly shaping one’s thoughts and molding the way one