Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

Occasionally, Leonard skips school, dresses as a businessman, and boards the train to Philadelphia. Leonard observes how unhappy and unfriendly the passengers appear, despite their freedom. He compares them to Jewish people transported to Nazi concentration camps. Leonard compares himself to Jewish people who killed family members, protecting them from the Holocaust. 

Herr Silverman encourages students to consider how they might have behaved if they were Germans during Hitler’s rise to power. Leonard recognizes Herr Silverman’s call to think critically about one’s choices within their culture, whereas many students find his comments offensive.

When Leonard rides the train in his suit, he chooses “the saddest-looking person I can find” (45) and follows them out of the station and through the streets of Philadelphia. He wonders why adults like his mother Linda fixate on careers that cause stress and misery. Leonard mentally speaks to sad workers, urging them to do spontaneous and joyful activities rather than go to work. Once Leonard’s target enters an office building, he sits in the park until the early evening and boards the train again. 

Once, while riding the train, Leonard noticed a beautiful, powerful-looking woman wearing sunglasses and bearing streaks of mascara down her face. He follows her until she turns, threatening him with Mace. He shows her his ID. She demands to know why he followed her, and Leonard answers honestly: “I dress up like an adult and skip school every once in a while to see what being an adult is like. Okay? I just want to know if growing up’s worth it” (51). Disarmed, the woman deems Leonard harmless and invites him to drink coffee with her.  

At a nearby diner, the woman in sunglasses explains that a colleague is obstructing her chance at a promotion and that her mother is gravely ill. She asks what Leonard learned from his experiment. The woman says that adulthood presents both sadness and difficulty. She admits to lying about her own story and, afraid for her safety, keeps Leonard’s ID. She announces to the diner, “This little prick follows women into dark alleys and asks them intimate questions. He’s a true pervert” (55). 

At the woman’s accusation, Leonard cries and bellows at the diner. A cook asks Leonard to leave, and he goes to a park in despair. He spends the next four days watching Bogart films with Walt until his school contacts Linda. Leonard remains silent and sad as Linda spends a few rare days at home with him. 

Quite tardy on his 18th birthday, Leonard enters Mrs. Giavotella’s AP English class. A jock removes Leonard’s fedora to reveal his alarming new haircut. After a confrontation with Leonard, Mrs. Giavotella restarts her lecture. Leonard feels disillusioned by Mrs. Giavotella’s emphasis on getting into college and his peers’ desire to attend esteemed universities. 

After class, Mrs. Giavotella approaches Leonard about his lateness. They discuss his poor performance on a Hamlet exam. Although he didn’t follow directions, Mrs. Giavotella praises his essay on the play. Leonard challenges her objections to his unusual test-taking methods by citing themes and quotes from Hamlet. He insults her teaching, and Mrs. Giavotella responds with a defense and a whispered threat. Leonard realizes his teacher is about to cry and takes back his criticisms. She urges him to leave the classroom.