The Substitute

Question

Nate Dern

Mr. K nodded, taking this all in. “By phony piece of paper you mean a high school diploma? Tell me, Calvin, this righteous rage of yours, is that winning us a lot of friends?” Mr. K walked to the windows on the side of the classroom. He pulled back one of the blinds he’d lowered. The view overlooked the parking lot. It was the last period on a sunny Friday afternoon, a spring day where the dabble of white puffy clouds accentuated the vivid blue of the sky. He watched as students climbed into their cars to drive away. Talking, laughing, flirting, shouting.

“The world is still so… itself,” Mr. K said quietly. “It’s breathtaking. None of you know how lucky you are. You take it all for granted.”

“What?” Calvin asked. Mr. K didn’t reply. He just kept staring outside. “Mr. K?”

Mr. K let go of the shade and turned back to face Calvin. “The reason why it’s you is that, without intervention, you will go on to become a very powerful person. You’re not the smartest or the strongest or the most attractive, I’m afraid to say, but you’ll learn that you have a great degree of something that not everyone has or is willing to use — cunning. You'll learn to wield vulnerabilities like daggers to carve your path to success. Those who once ignored you or looked down on you will instead eagerly fall in line behind you, following you with fierce devotion, cheering your name and jabbering your praises as you stand above them and chisel the world into the new shape of your choosing. They’ll shriek with delight as the shards of the old world reign down on them.” Mr. K paused here to catch his breath. After a moment, he spoke again. “One decision you make in particular will have… consequences.”

Calvin was speechless. He tried to process what Mr. K had just foretold. This no longer felt like an experiment or prank. The grand prognostication settled in. Belief. Calvin found he liked the way it felt. Slowly, the corners of his lips inched upwards. Calvin had never had followers before. He barely had any friends.

“I’ll have power?” Calvin said.

“Yes,” Mr. K replied. “It will be intoxicating, especially at first. But this won’t last. Nothing does. You’ll want more, but that’s the thing about power, Calvin. There’s no such thing as enough. That’s why I have to show you that there’s another way. Reframe how you look at things, how you see the world.”

Write: What do paragraphs 34-37 reveal about Mr. K's point of view about Calvin's future self

Answer 1

In paragraphs 34-37, Mr. K's perspective on Calvin's future self is one of both recognition and concern. He acknowledges Calvin's potential to become a powerful figure, attributing this potential to his cunning nature. Mr. K's insights suggest that Calvin possesses the ability to manipulate situations and people to his advantage, indicating that he sees in Calvin a certain charisma and strategic thinking that could lead him to success.

However, Mr. K also expresses a cautionary outlook on this trajectory. He highlights the intoxicating nature of power and warns that it is ultimately insatiable—regardless of how much one achieves, the desire for more will remain. This duality in Mr. K's viewpoint reflects a mentor's role, where he admires Calvin's potential while simultaneously striving to guide him away from the pitfalls of unchecked ambition and domination. Mr. K's intent is to help Calvin find a different way of perceiving both power and the world, suggesting a hope that Calvin can choose a path characterized by greater awareness and perhaps morality, rather than purely exploiting his cunning for personal gain. Overall, Mr. K’s insights illuminate the complexities of power and ambition while revealing his desire for Calvin to navigate his future with wisdom rather than mere self-interest.