Reading Synthesis Post

Archetype Synthesis page by Jeremiah Jeffries

The book that I am doing my blog post on is Inexcusable by Chris Lynch.

Reluctant Hero- The reluctant hero in this story is the main character Keir. I am naming him the reluctant hero because he doesn't want him to be known for “killer” as that was his nickname after a game where he made a really good play. At first he was just going to except that nickname but a really good friend of his told him not to. She told him that that wasn’t who he is and that he is a much nicer guy. Because of her, he went on a “journey” to try make a good name for himself and for him to be known for being a nice guy.

Quest for identity- Keir was a really good guy. He was nice to everyone and never was too aggressive. Except for that one day where he got a little out of hand on the football field. He hit a guy too hard and could have killed him. Now, Keir has to prove to others that he is better then that, and he can be back to the guy he once was. An example of this is on pages 34 and 35 and it says “I might have been able to stop it, at some point of that day. Stop it instead of blushing, as I did the first time, instead of nodding silently, as i did later, instead of laughing, as I did later still.” Of course, the “it” in that text is referring to the nickname, killer.

Mother Figure- The mother figure in this book is Gigi Boudakian, the girl the Keir really likes. she teaches him how to handle the situation with the nickname and makes Keir love her even more. She guides him through the rally tough times and she tells him all of the right things. Later in the book Keir gets out of the heat and she could gladly say that she was a part of that.

Shape Shifter- In this book, the shape shifter is Keir’s father, Ray. Ray is a very interesting father. In some parts of the book he would be very tough on him and make him a stronger person. However in other parts of the book, he understands and sympathizes with him and gives him the right idea. I think that this character really changed Keir because Keir could always rely on him to give valuable information to him that will help him later in life. Like for example when Keir was dealing with the nickname trouble, he went to Ray and asked for his input on the situation. He told them if you didn’t like the name then stand up for yourself and don’t be afraid of them judging you in any way. This makes me think that the dad has a lot of impact of Keir's life.

Scapegoat- The scapegoat of this story could be Keir because he was “discriminated” by the people at his school for almost killing a kid at one of his football games. Although he wasn’t trying to hurt the kid, he still did enough damage that made some people not like him. People were saying things like suspending him and other people were making the nickname which was making him feel uncomfortable. Overall, he was put in a bad position and his school peers only made it worst.


Overall, I think that this situation ended up helping him out a lot. People in the the real world should learn from this problem because they need to know that they need to stand up for things that they do not agree with.