Callahan Chronicals Essay, Research Paper

After reading the Callahan Chronicals I have come to realize

that there are many things to be learned in life. This book captured

my attention by trying to figure out just what it is that Spider Robinson

is trying to pass on to the reader. I have come to the conclusion that

the author is trying to portray real life situations with a little twist to

keep the reader interested. There is a lesson to be learned from

each story. Each visitor that passes through Mike Callahan’s bar is

teaching the people who are already there a lesson and there is

much to be learned.

In the Centipede’s Dilemma I learned that apperance really

dosen’t matter. Dink Fogerty led the whole bar to believe that he was

incapable of even throwing a dart but then he, dispite his image, used

telekinesis (mind over matter) to project the darts into the dartboard

with tremendus accuracy. You cannot just sleep on your opponents

in real life situations. You must look beyond your opponents

apparent capabilities to be a contender in any game, espically the

game of life. If you don’t you will surely get stepped on throughout

your life. If the people at Callahan’s didn’t catch on to Dink’s attribute

then he would have walked out of that place knowing that he screwed

over the entire bar. I have learned to look for things like this now and

will not get decieved eaisly in my lifetime. Fogerty wasn’t all that bad

though, any bird that can keep their glass filled with gin all the time

would be a good companion for mostly anyone.

Just Dessert was a good story on how people do not like to be

made a fool of. This story’s focus was on practical jokers. The

message I received from this writing was that people don’t like

practical jokers even if their motifs are just for fun. You also must be

careful because that joke can turn foul and hit you right back in the

face. That is exactly what happened to the men who tried to pull one

over on Mike and the Doc. The men planned to drink heavily and pull

the old fake vomit gag. This one was more complex though because

the guy who puked had his two friends dig into the gross mess with

spoons to sicken the crowd. The vomit was just beef stew to make it

look real. The funny part is that the Doc slipped some “serum of

ipecac” into the stew before the man’s friends dug in. Who do you

think got the last laugh in the end? Well, I know for sure that the

jokers will not be playing that gag again in the future. This goes for

me as well. I will not be playing any joke like that in the future

because now I can see what possible outcomes there can be. I

wouldn’t like it done to me so I will stick to the golden rule.

When the tall guy with the eyes walked through Callahan’s door

there was a feeling of uncertainty among Jake Stonebender. He

had seen a man like this before and he ended up blasting four men

with a gun. To make a long story short this guy was sent by his

master to destroy the world but he had a conscience and couldn’t

kill everyone. Mickey Finn realized that love and feelings do exist

among humans and he couldn’t destroy them. He let everyone

know that all they had to do was kill him and they would all be saved.

The people at Callahan’s did no such thing though. They got him

trashed instead and talked it through. They even dragged him to the

back room where Mike keeps a cot and laid him down to sleep. This

taught me that it is best to talk things out in a bad situation. All you

have to do in certain situations is kill them with kindness.

There was a guy in this book who possessed fivesight. It is

when you can see things that are going to happen in the future.

Unfortunately for this guy he could only see the bad things that were

going to happen. He married a women and that same women ended

up at Callahan’s place telling the story of her husband. It seemed like

the man with fivesight could prevent bad things that are going to

happen but he couldn’t. He could only make them better by

preparing for it. He always said he was not permitted by whomever

sends him the messages to prevent anything. The couple had a kid.

That boy was killed on his way home from school when a tractor

trailer hit the school bus he was on. The women asked why he did

not try to save him. He was just living by his own rules and he could

not change. I guess you shouldn’t ask for something that is worse for

you in the long run.

In Dog Day Evening a scrubby guy walked into Callahan’s with

a well trained German shepherd. He soon made a bet to all the

people at Callahan’s that his dog could talk. They all accepted the

bet for two hundred dollars. They were all ready for a prank since

there was serious money on the line. The guy with the dog had a full

beard and they suspected that he might be a ventriloquist. The man

and the dog won the bet and the dog really could talk. The funny

thing was that the man was a mute and the whole time the dog was

doing the talking. The people at Callahan’s thought that it was pretty

cool even though they lost money. Mike felt bad for the since they

were so nice about everything and nobody ever gave them a

chance. All they knew was how to hustle for money. Mike Callahan

offered to get the dog a job on the radio and the guy a job working

with computers. I learned from this that it is good to help good people

even if they play you for some cash. I also learned not to bet

because anything is possible if a dog can talk.

In Have You Heard The One it was tall tales night at Callahan’s.

Jake told a story about how her was not superstitious. In his story he

asked god for a sign to know if something bad was going to happen

to him. Sure enough a bird ended up falling dead on the hood of his

car. If that is not a sign I don’t know what is. This story opened my

mind to the possibility of the supernatural. I know this book is not for

real but it opened a door for the possibility of something larger than

life. That is the main thing that I received from the story from the

Callahan Chronicals.

After reading this book I have learned many things. There are

things in life that you must be ready for and I think that this book

helped open some windows for me to prepare for the worst and hope

for the best. The Callahan Chronicals is a great way to learn about

life in a relatively enjoyable way.