the miseducation of patrick dunn
Patrick currently resides deep in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. He sucks at sports, can't play any musical instruments, and suffers from crippling anxiety. In his spare time, he can be found trying to beat his best friend's score at Ms. Pacman or passed out on the couch after a tiring day of Law & Order: SVU reruns. His favorite things include television, music, and comedy. He dislikes almost everything else, especially the Tori episodes of Saved by the Bell.
Nucky Thompson may have footed the bill for Jimmy Darmody; but let’s face it, Jimmy never really fit in with the other Princeton boys. They were born and bred with their futures outlined for them by their elders. Conversely, Jimmy was raised by his teenage mother with the help of her showgirl friends. His interpretation of the John Webster play they were studying in class that day was relevant to his own upbringing, “His mother taught him things that are not of any use. Everyone around him is getting rich, and he can feel it like he’s hungry… like he can taste it” When the college professor asks one of the privileged students to provide further insight on the passage from The White Devil that Jimmy read aloud, the haughty student remarks, “The way to graduate college is to bribe someone, sir.”
Moments later, another student mentions he will not make the next class due to obligations with the Student Army Training Corps, or SATC for short. Initially, the United States did not get itself involved with the theatrics of World War I. By the spring of 1917 though, after war had raged on for over three years, the United States had finally declared war on Germany. A selective draft was instated for men over the age of eighteen. To keep these men in school while also preparing them for battle, the SATC was established. College courses were specially created that would prepare these men for battle.
Upon hearing of his classmate’s interest in battle, Jimmy attempts to fit in with his peers, “He just likes the uniform.” A few of his mates look at him with leering eyes and wonder where has his patriotism gone? One of privileged boy cites that his brother was killed on the Lusitania, a British ocean liner than was destroyed by German U-boats. The attack is often credited as one of the major contributions of the United States entering World War I and became the symbol of military recruitment techniques as to why we fight. Over 1,200 souls perished in the attack and leaving only about 764 survivors.
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