Game Changer

At the center of the Walthorne football team is the belief that playing football defines the very essence of becoming a man. Viewed as a rite of passage for young boys, football provides a skewed vision of manhood. The novel contrasts that view of manhood against Ethan’s evolution, the player most perceived to be the least manly and most taunted for being too effeminate. His confession in the hospital room reveals his growth into true manhood and marks him as more of a man than any of the Wildcats for all their posturing, threats, intimidations, and flashy shows of physical prowess.

For the team, being a man is an assertion of power. To be a man is to have the confidence and the swagger to refuse to back down from any confrontation, from any challenge. To be a man is to embrace, even celebrate the mean-spirited nature of a bully. In The Hit Parade, to be a man is to hit whoever is in your way and hit them hard. Aggression, brutality, confrontation, and violence is the way the football team promotes manhood. This interpretation of what it is to be a man is indoctrinated into players like Teddy and Ethan, who dedicate their adolescence to living up to this ideal.

Ethan, taunted by his own teammates as “Eden,” confesses his actions and in so doing rejects this cartoon version of manhood. Ethan defines a far different reading of manhood: Being a man is not about swagger and ego—it is about humility, moral strength, and admitting vulnerabilities, owning up to mistakes, and facing the consequences. Ethan shows that being a man is ultimately about growing emotionally, getting ready to assume a place within society. Being a man is not about hitting someone hard and bragging about it—it is about taking an unblinking look in a mirror and deciding to change.

Game Changer looks at the influence of guilt and the decisions it leads characters to make. Teddy’s mother is wracked with guilt over leaving her family, and believes that if she were more present, Teddy wouldn’t have been injured. Ethan handles his guilt through isolation: He resists talking to the school therapist, ignores social media and text messages, and does not attend school. Both Sarah and Ethan’s relationships with Teddy are defined by pivotal moments that are distinctly different, but both are motivated by their guilt to mend relationships, better themselves for the future, and to admit the mistakes they made.

Sarah reveals the depth of her guilt in her interactions with Teddy. She is quick to play protective mother. Her anger towards the coach and teammates who visit, and her accusations about the team’s culpability illustrate her frustration and guilt over Teddy’s hospitalization. The suspicions she has over the nature of Teddy’s injury reflect her own emotions. Sarah’s departure from the family has been a metaphoric coma for her, and her return provides a chance for the Youngblood family to confront their issues and for things to change for the better.

Ethan does not ignore what he has done. Slowly, over several days, Ethan reveals his own way of handling his guilt: After he speaks further with the school’s therapist, he chooses confession. His hospital confession offers no excuses but rather a clear and honest explanation. He accepts what he has done without rhetorical obfuscation, without blaming others, and he knows that no gesture of forgiveness will make the burden of guilt any lighter. In the end, he sees that guilt is not an end to itself but rather a process of self-definition. Ethan resolves to handle his guilt over his violent actions in a moment that defines his movement into adulthood.