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"Fictional but factual" is a phrase that quickly comes to mind when reading the book “I am Charlotte Simmons,” by Tom Wolfe. This book is a “must read” for anyone involved in campus ministry or who works with young people ranging in ages 14 to 24. It would also be an interesting book for well-grounded students who are considering attending a university. It offers crucial insights on the cultural trends faced by college students today. However, if a student currently has a problem with profanity, sex or pornography, this book could escalate those struggles.
We get a glimpse of Charlotte Simmons at her high school graduation where she is honored as the valedictorian of her class. But she is also a social loner. She is an extremely bright young lady who received a full scholarship from Dupont, a privileged private university. She is excited about attending a school where there will be other people in her intellectual bracket as well as leaving her home in the hills of North Carolina.
Although the academic challenges of college are exciting to Charlotte as she finally has the opportunity to learn from her professors and other students, she finds that she is very lonely. She doesn’t “fit in.” Her roommate, Beverly, is an only child from a very wealthy family, with all the latest technology gadgets imaginable and enough clothes to outfit the entire floor. She stays out late partying, sometime only coming home to change her clothes.
Eventually, Charlotte meets other students with whom she has a connection – they range from JoJo Johanson (the only white starter on the basketball team), to Hoyt Thorpe (the college senior with an interesting secret about the governor of California), to Adam Geller (her intellectual equal and one of the Millennial Mutants). As Charlotte progresses through her first semester, it is interesting and disturbing to read about the compromises she makes so she can become “part of the crowd.”
As Charlotte deals with choices she must make, we are allowed a glimpse of how a college student’s mind might be affected from the daily situations that confront them. When Charlotte’s mother left her at college, she reminded her that “she is Charlotte Simmons.” Although this mantra helps Charlotte at the beginning of the semester, it is easy to see how this isn’t enough to keep her from making poor choices.
Toward the end of the book, we become very involved in the consequences of one Charlotte’s choices and how it deeply affects her life academically, socially and emotionally. In a culture that minimizes the consequences of our moral choices, how healthy it is to be shown the bigger moral picture.
Tom Wolfe connects with the reality of college life, from the frequent use of profanity to explicit sexual scenes. Although we want to believe that college life is not the way Wolfe describes it, we would be naive in keeping this viewpoint. Not all college students fall into the traps that Charlotte did, but the real question is: Are we preparing our students for what they might face at our universities?
Marisa Beard , along with her husband, David, is involved with the campus group at the Macomb Church of Christ in Macomb, Illinois. She is employed by the College of Education at Western Illinois University where she teaches pre-service and practicing teachers how to effectively integrate technology into the P-12 classroom.
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