The Ultimate Gift

Narrator Theodore “Ted” Hamilton, 80, is one of the best lawyers in America. A formal person, Hamilton was for many decades attorney and friend to the informal and larger-than-life Red Stevens. As executor of Red’s estate, he takes Jason Stevens under his wing during Jason’s year-long quest to complete Red’s 12 challenges and find the “ultimate gift.” As he observes Jason’s progress, Hamilton realizes that he, too, has benefited from Red’s generosity of spirit, and that many of Jason’s lessons Hamilton, too, learned from Red. He is somewhat round but also somewhat static, staying relatively the same throughout the novel.

Hamilton’s duty is to stand between Jason and Red, both as judge and liaison. He also serves alongside Red as a mentor and father figure. Hamilton understands and supports Red’s efforts on behalf of Jason; his narration provides context and perspective so that Jason’s journey can be fully understood by readers.

Margaret Hastings has worked as Ted Hamilton’s assistant for many decades. She’s extremely smart and competent; her wise counsel has kept Hamilton on course over the decades so that, he states, “after forty years of working with Miss Hastings, I have learned one principle of survival. That is simply to always agree with her” (78). Though Hamilton does most of the talking to Jason, Hastings’s occasional comments are pithy, highly useful, and encouraging. At other times, between the lines readers can almost hear Hasting’s wise intelligence thrumming in the background as she supports Jason’s progress. She, too, is somewhat round but also static.

Hastings’s relationship with Hamilton symbolizes how a friendship, whether social or work-related, can deepen over time. They function together so smoothly as almost to be extensions of one another. Hastings also serves as a parental figure for Jason. Her example inspires him to discard some of his cynicism and distrust about other people.

Howard “Red” Stevens is a big, dominating person who rose “out of the swamps of Louisiana with nothing but determination, strength, and the clothes on his back” and built Panhandle Oil and Gas into a world-class oil company (15). Attempting to share his gains with his relatives—sometimes to make up for being absent from their lives—Stevens gave them riches, which merely spoiled them. Red gives up on them and grants them huge sums in his will but prevents them from managing that wealth lest they waste it. Only one relation, grand-nephew Jason, seems to hold any promise, and to him Red throws a 12-month challenge. He hopes to test Jason’s mettle and inspire him to become more than simply another selfish member of the Stevens family.

Red is an exemplar for Jason of how a vital, successful person can also be a loving and generous one. His clever set of assignments inspires in Jason an appreciation for others; it also prepares Jason for the work Red has in store for him as director of Red’s charitable activities. Though a grand-uncle, Red also serves as a father figure to Jason. Red’s 12-test challenge transforms Jason’s opinion of his great-uncle, from rebellious contempt to loving admiration. He is somewhat round but static throughout.

At 6’ 8” and massive, Nathan intimidates Jason when they meet. Nathan plays tight end for the New England Patriots of the National Football League, but he grew up at the Red Stevens Home for Boys, where he learned to think of the place and its residents as his family. When he can, Nathan returns there to help out, doing odd chores and coaching and mentoring the boys, who love him and look up to him. Nathan helps Jason discover the great value of a loving family, whether biological or adoptive. A big man in many ways, Nathan exemplifies the lifelong devotion a person can develop for a family.

Little Emily has a fatal disease. Her hospital grants final wishes to young children, but all Emily wants is a fun day at a local park. Jason meets her while she’s playing on a swing. Her volunteer caretaker says Emily is a bright light wherever she goes. The girl greets Jason “with a smile [he’ll] never forget” (53). He sees that “she has more courage and joy in her little seven-year-old body than any normal human being could possibly have” (53). Jason visits Emily again a few weeks later; she teaches him that people can, in the novel’s view, surmount the worst difficulties with joy and love.