56 pages • 1 hour read
Elaine Marie AlphinThe Perfect Shot
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Cyclical Nature of History
A major theme in The Perfect Shot is the idea that many events in history happen in cycles and patterns, and it’s crucial to learn from those patterns. If people do not understand the context in which terrible things happened, they won’t have the power to stop similar things from happening again. Mr. Fortner, Brian’s history teacher, wants to demonstrate this concept in a meaningful way by assigning his students historical cases to study. One way he helps his students think outside of their normal contexts is by assigning the students partners outside their social groups. This forces the students to see things from a different perspective, which is the first step in disrupting harmful historical patterns. This is especially clear in Brian’s interactions with Todd and his brother, who give him new insights into how the legal system works and the way systemic injustices happen again and again.
Before long, Brian and Todd realize that the Leo Frank case they are studying is similar to Mr. Daine’s trial, who has been accused of murdering his family. The books they read about Leo Frank show that prosecutors are using similar tactics to call his character into question, even though there is no actual evidence that he committed the crime. There was a witness, Alonzo Mann, who could have stood up for Frank, but he was bullied and threatened into silence. Elaine Marie Alphin creates a parallel to this history in Brian, who is threatened after bringing up what he witnessed in court. Throughout the novel, Brian recognizes that he is playing the role of Alonzo Mann in this iteration of the story, and he needs to speak up, regardless of his fear. In particular, Mann’s testimony decades after the fact gives Brian a clear glimpse at his future if he stays silent. Learning from history motivates him to do the right thing and break the cycle of witness intimidation.
History also reflects on the students’ current reality, such as the way police can abuse their power. Brian and Todd learn that Leo Frank was targeted because he was Jewish, and Julius is similarly profiled and discriminated against after his illegal arrest. While Julius struggles to cope with this abuse—he begins to act out—Brian recognizes that he can help him by finding him legal support. This stands in contrast to his father, who represents the historical pattern of turning away from injustice and tells him to stay out of it. Thanks to Brian, Todd, and Warren’s intervention, Julius is released from jail, and his parents have a way to pursue legal justice against the corrupt police officers. Through this, Brian learns that to disrupt the patterns of injustice and abuse, people have to make difficult decisions and put themselves in positions that could get them in trouble, hurt, and even killed.
The Danger of Black-and-White Thinking
In The Perfect Shot, many conflicts stem from the dangers that emerge when people engage in black-and-white thinking—refusing to see the nuance in a situation or adhering dogmatically to certain cultural ideas or stereotypes. One of the ways Brian develops on his coming-of-age journey is by learning to see the nuance in situations and consider other perspectives.
Black-and-white thinking is clear at the school in the stereotypes that students hold about each other. For example, Todd is targeted by the basketball team because he is different and is subjected to both verbal and physical bullying. Amanda was a force against this, preventing Brian from taking part, though he only agreed to make her happy. When Brian and Todd are paired together on the group project, they are both wary of working with the other. However, Brian quickly learns that Todd is a different person than he expected, and the two bond over their love of basketball and music. Keeping an open mind when working with Todd opens Brian up to other new perspectives, and he benefits from Todd and Warren’s vast knowledge about the legal system and its injustices.
Other characters suffer because of black-and-white thinking. A primary example is Todd, whose conservative parents disowned him after he came out as gay. Because they adhered dogmatically to their religious beliefs, they could not tap into their love for their son in a situation they found difficult or confusing. This refusal to consider other perspectives broke up their family, though Todd benefits from having a supportive older brother. Another example is Mr. Daine, who, absence of any evidence connecting him to the murders, is being subjected to character assassination in court. The prosecution dwells on the fact that Mr. Daine cheated on his wife, spinning his infidelity into a possible motive for murder. Brian reflects with distaste on Mr. Daine’s cheating, but he acknowledges that infidelity and murder are different actions. While Mr. Daine is not a perfect man and did not treat his family as well as he could have, Brian cannot believe that he killed them. However, the jury adheres to black-and-white thinking, using their negative feelings for Mr. Daine to motivate their “guilty” votes.
One more example of black-and-white thinking in the novel is Officer Recks himself. Because he is an officer of the law, he coasts on a positive reputation—though Brian doesn’t like him when he is interrogated, he never suspects that Recks is a bad actor. The societal belief that police officers maintain the social order is an example of black-and-white thinking, avoiding the fact that police officers, like all people, are capable of behaving morally or immorally. This gives Recks cover for his nefarious actions throughout the novel, from participating in a drug ring to murdering the Daine family and concealing evidence that implicated him. While other characters in the novel have equally black-and-white negative ideas about the police, the actions of Officer Recks and the cops who arrest Julius show that even positive stereotypes about people should be interrogated and considered with nuance.
Loyalty vs. Integrity
Another conflict that Brian encounters in The Perfect Shot is choosing between being loyal to someone and maintaining personal integrity. In some cases, he has to go against his friends and family to do what he believes is right. He learns about this through studying the Leo Frank case and by talking to Todd about ethical issues. In the 1913 Leo Frank case, the citizens of Atlanta were suspicious of Leo Frank because he was an outsider—a Jewish man from the north. Rather than follow due process and consider the lack of evidence against him in his murder trial, they insisted on his guilt because they were predisposed to distrust him. After learning about this case, Brian becomes more aware of how people’s loyalties and prejudices can cloud their judgment and prevent them from acting with integrity. This motivates his internal journey throughout the novel as he decides he doesn’t want to be like Alonzo Mann.
On two separate occasions, Brian’s father tells him to not get involved in a conflict: He discourages him from contacting Mr. Daine’s lawyer and the press about the anonymous jogger, and he refuses to pick up Julius from the police station, because he doesn’t want Brian to get involved. Though Brian loves and respects his father and wants to make him proud, he has to listen to his own conscience in these situations. This means rejecting his father’s advice and standing up for the right thing. Alphin paints his actions as unambiguously positive; because Brian stays true to himself rather than cowing to someone else’s wants, he gets his friend out of jail and Mr. Daine’s trial thrown out.
Brian also has to work through this conundrum after Julius is arrested. Julius does not want Brian to tell anyone about the incident, but Brian believes that their teammates, and certainly Julius’s parents, should know what happened. Even though he knows that he is risking Julius being angry with him, he still believes it is the right thing to do. The harm of keeping his promise to Julius is shown through Julius’s increasingly erratic behavior as he struggles to cope with what happened to him. Brian sees that his friend needs help, and while keeping a promise to a friend is a noble value, he considers that doing so will only hurt his friend more. By acting on his conscience, Brian shows a deeper loyalty to his friend—a deep desire to see him happy and healthy.
The same conflict is present as the novel discusses the police and dynamics within the legal system. Todd and Warren are aware that policemen tend to stay loyal to each other and back each other up, whether or not they have behaved ethically. This is borne out when Officer Recks’s guilt is revealed at the end of the novel; Mr. Daine busted the drug ring that Officer Recks participated in, acting out of integrity rather than loyalty to his fellow officer. Because of this, Officer Recks retaliated by killing the Daine family and framing Mr. Daine for the crime. This loyalty dynamic is also clear in the book’s discussions of corroboration within the system; determined to consider a case solved and less concerned with whether justice was served, different actors in the legal system will work together to target a specific suspect and get their desired outcome. This shows how loyalty can not only undermine someone’s personal moral code but result in systemic injustices that are difficult to overcome.
