Big Jeff Purcell

Big Jeff Purcell: A Character Analysis Jeff Purcell, known as 'Big Jeff Purcell,' is a classmate of the narrator of "Old School," a novel by Tobias Wolff. He has quirks, like everyone, but is unlike everyone else in the school he attends because he trusts in the goodwill of everyone. Although he is too dependent on his cousin, also named Jeff Purcell, he is compassionate, loyal, and enthusiastic. Although Big Jeff is very compassionate towards his family, unintentionally, he is not letting his cousin, known as Little Jeff Purcell, have his own identity. Big Jeff is oblivious to this, and is doglike in his loyalty to his cousin. "He haunted his room and patiently endured his abuse just to sit in the corner and watch him shave or dress for dinner" (35). Big Jeff is so dependent and devoted to his cousin that when his cousin's position at the school is in jeopardy, because Little Jeff refuses to attend church, Big Jeff threatens to leave the school himself. For some, leaving the prestigious school in New England that these boys attended would not have been monumental, however; Big Jeff loves his school. Little Jeff wants Big Jeff kicked out of their school. Little Jeff says to the Narrator, "I know it sounds terrible, Purcell said, but I do. I wish they'd kicked him out." (34). Little Jeff feels this way because Big Jeff and Little Jeff have always been put together, and so he resents him. Little Jeff tells the Narrator, "We'll probably get buried in the same coffin. Me and Big Jeff. Big Jeff and Little Jeff, ad fucking aeternum" (35). Big Jeff is unlike his peers because he is intelligent but only to certain subjects that spark his interests. Big Jeff is described as doing, “well in his science class, and what he cared about, he knew about.”(34). Science is especially important because he is an advocate for animal rights. Big Jeff’s love for animals extends too far for his peers’ taste because his pet rat is described as, “ugly” (33).