The Trench

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 12th grade February 2008

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I decided to do my project on our second option, the description of our main character. Benedict Singer was the head honcho in this novel. The only hair on his head was a grayish white goatee. He was tall and wide like a pro football player except for his yellowish smile. His eyes were permanently dyed an emerald color due to the results of an industrial accident. Although he has many quirks, the most noticeable is probably the fact that he likes to quote Latin in many different situations. Another character in this book, MasaoTanaka, makes a quote in the novel stating "He is fluent in a dozen languages, though he prefers to impress with quotes in Latin…" The first words out of his mouth is a Latin phrase, Ogenki desu ka, which means how are you He is a very strong willed man who constantly watched others die throughout the story.

At many times he states that the job at hand is more important than the death toll. The statement that most clearly proves this is when he says "Vladislav, slowing is a luxury we cannot afford. If we hesitate to complete our mission, ITER will complete it for us. Misfortune puts men to the test. Would you prefer the deaths of our comrades to have been in vain?" Many of his decisions are made for the benefits of him and him alone. When one of the members of his team knows too much, he has no qualms about killing them to keep his mission on the right track. This quote comes right after they find what they are looking for and regards the fate of another "Now that we've located the nodules, she's no longer needed. She'll be dead before the day is out." But when it all comes down to it, Benedict would never put himself in a situation where he could be harmed and he certainly doesn't want to die. When the end finally does come for him, he begs like a little schoolgirl showing that he fears death as much as the next person. "Celeste please don't kill me, we both know that I am not going to a better place. We can accomplish great things together." Unfortunately Celeste didn't see it that way. The final words that escaped his lips were "I'll see you in hell." I think that his most important trait was that he feared death just as much as anyone else because it showed that no matter how he portrayed himself he wasn't anymore fearless then the men he had working for him. When it all came down to it he begged for his life just as the others in the novel had. It gave the reader something to be somewhat pleased about due to the fact that he wasn't the most likeable of characters.