"Emperor's Club Reflection"

1.      When Mr. Hundert quotes Aristophanes: “Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever” I feel in a sense he is correct but also in a sense he is not.  Youth does age, drunkenness can be sobered, but with the rest it is not always true.  Immaturity is not always outgrown, ignorance cannot always be educated, and stupidity does not last forever in many cases. I do however believe he got his point across at that moment.

2.      Mr. Hundert is so shaken by Sedgewick Bell because he has never had a student that doesn’t care about his education as much as Sedgewick.  Sedgewick was more worried about being the class clown and pulling pranks, than he is about his education along with his future.  Mr. Hundert wanted to believe in Sedgewick and he wants to believe in him because no one else did.  Mr. Hundert believed Sedgewick could do the work and believed with a little push Sedgewick would change for the better.

3.      At first the other boys did not know what to think of Sedgewick.  They seemed intimidated and almost afraid of him and what he would do.  After being around him the boys started to do things to impress him and started to follow his lead. When Mr. Hundert says that Sedgewick’s actions are “hypnotic” he is saying that they boys seem under his spell, they do whatever he tells them to do.  They are always following along with him, his pranks and his plans.

4.      When the Mr. Julius Caesar contest roles around Mr. Hundert is faced with a dilemma, which will determines the fate of the third candidate.  He is grading the boys’ final test/reports and is stuck with the decision, should he give Sedgewick and “A” and then Martin is the third candidate or should he give Sedgewick and “A+” to bump his points up so he can be the third candidate.  He gives Sedgewick the “A+” because he believes in him and believes that this will help him want to achieve greatness.  Martin should have been third based on overall performance and his grade point.

5.      Mr. Hundert is faced with another dilemma at the Mr. Julius Caesar contest.  He has caught Sedgewick cheating.  He tells the head master what he has witnessed and the head master says to let it slide.  Mr. Hundert is faced with a tough decision, to announce to the crowd that Sedgewick has been cheating all along or to not say anything and potentially let Sedgewick win.  Mr. Hundert does not announce it to the crowd but gives Sedgewick a different question which ultimately seals Sedgewick’s fate in the contest.  When Mr. Hundert confronts Sedgewick about his behavior at the contest Sedgewick says, to sum it up, “I know you saw me cheating, why didn’t you turn me in?” Mr. Hundert simply asks “why did you do it” and Sedgewick was not fazed and for the most part says you should have expected it, this is who I am.

6.      Mr. Hundert agrees to host the Mr. Julius Caesar contest twenty-five years later for three reasons: to see his former students, to see if Sedgewick has changed and ultimately to apologize to Martin and tell him the truth from all those years back.  When meeting up with his students again he hopes that they have taken some of his life lesson and his teaching away with them and put them to use in their lives as grown men.  He also hopes that Sedgewick is a changed man and that he has grown out of his old ways.  Mr. Hundert’s hopes are squashed when Sedgewick cheats for the second time in the Mr. Julius Caesar contest.  He feels he has failed Sedgewick as both a teacher and a mentor.  His hopes are later renewed when his students surprise him with their kindness and really show him how much he has impacted all of their lives.

7.      The film shows that we want to live a good life and examined life, not a life where we strive to be successful at any cost.  This is shown during Mr. Hundert and Sedgewick’s conversation in the men’s bathroom at the end of the film.  Sedgewick says he will do anything to get what he wants out of life and if that involves lying and cheating so be it.  Right after Sedgewick makes this statement his son emerges from the bathroom stall with a disappointed and disproving look on his face.  He is disappointed that his father would lie and cheat to get ahead in life; he wants a father who is and honest and trustworthy man.

8.      Mr. Hundert returns to teaching because after the reunion with his students he realized the impact he made on them and in return the impact they made on him.  He realized how important teaching truly is to him and that his life is not fulfilled without it.  When he returned to school, a much appreciated and heartwarming surprise was waiting for him.  Martin decided to send his son to the school where Mr. Hundert was teaching so that his son could be in Mr. Hundert’s class.  This was a much needed surprise for Mr. Hundert because it told him that he did not fail Martin as a teacher like he thought he did.

9.      Mr. Hundert was a very respectable man and teacher.  He would communicate with his students and involve them in his teachings.  He treated them as equals; he did not put himself on a higher pedestal.  He did not just teach his students but his students also taught him.  This is the way that a teacher should teach.  They should learn from Mr. Hundert what it means to be a good teacher.  His teaching skills are ones that keeps the students involved and keep the students feeling like the are able to communicate with him whenever need be. 

10.  Mr. Hundert taught classics in his class.  He felt that this would help his students become better men and also help them be able to contribute to society in various ways.  Teaching classics helped his students better understand the past along with the present.  His teaching made them become more well-rounded individuals and made them realize to make an impact on society it is better to be an honest man than it is to be a man who lies and cheats his way to the top.  They also learned that hard work and a good education can make a great impact on your life and society as a whole.