Jennifer Government Character Analysis

Vengeance, retribution, vendetta, and settling a score. These are all synonyms of revenge which means retaliation against a person or group in response to a perceived wrongdoing. In the book Jennifer Government, written by Max Berry, the plot revolves around the idea of revenge. With five main characters, the book shows how the various characters lives are transformed and intertwined after the antagonist, John Nike begins his evil plan to get himself and Nike the company rich. During the story the characters carry and complete various vendettas they have against each other. As a result we see how revenge negatively affects the characters choices, relationships and personality. Personalities are negatively affected by personal vendettas in various ways. Jennifer
Government the protagonist is consumed by the idea of putting John Nike in jail.
On pg. 48 she states that "This is about some asshole at Nike thinking he can build a career out of dead teenagers." John Nike had contracted murders on 14 teens. Another reason for wanting revenge on John was the fact he had left her after he found out she was pregnant. He did not want a kid nor did he want to settle down and leave his career. The unhealthy obsession with John set her priorities out of whack and thus her personality suffered. She lost her temper quickly to various people including her best friend, the therapist and even her daughter. Another example from the book is from the character Hack Nike is also affected negatively by his vendetta. After being used and then discarded by John Nike, Hack felt betrayed and as a result he decided to get his revenge on John by going after various corrupt businesses. Hack joined a small "terrorist group". Hack's personality is more aggressive and inconsiderate. Hack sends John a hostile where he states he will take companies head on. His hatred towards companies has blinded him and made short sided. He cannot see that by trying drawing bad public attention to companies he is giving them free publicity. The cliché of "no
such thing as bad publicity" holds true to this. Along with Jennifer and Hack, John Nike is another character whose personality. During a hostile takeover of a rival company, the markets crashed and the bid was ruined by a virus sent by the rival company's employees. John is consumed with anger and he goes after the culprit. On pg. 198 his friend says this "You trashed my Ferrari, the least you could do is wait up." Being consumed by anger John did not care about the various broken laws, and his friend's car lent to him. John's lack of sympathy shows his weak. Clearly having a personal vendetta and putting forth acts to carry it out leave a negative impact on a person's personality. Along with a person's personality, a person's choices are also affected negatively. Jennifer Government is willing to do almost anything to get John in jail including blackmailing Billy NRA a professional sniper in one of John's partner companies. She made the choice to let the assassin choose between spying or facing serious jail time. It's apparent that Jennifer does not see the mistaken in her actions because she fixated on her goal. Her sense of right and wrong is affected negatively as she can't tell the difference between them anymore. Another character whose choice is affected negatively is again Hack Nike. In order for him to get his revenge against businesses Hack joins "terrorist group" which goes against businesses in a semi-extreme fashions. Hack and his group vandalize various advertisements on bill boards to across their message to the public. Another thing that Hack and the group did is they took over a MacDonald's restaurant destroying property and scaring the customers. Hack is a completely difference person from the law-abiding one before. His choice to take actions into his own hands to get his revenge is just in his mind. His focus on life has changed completely. The last example that that shows the negative impact of revenge on choices is from John Nike. John decides to retaliate against the other company by killing the person responsible which he does successfully. His vendetta against those responsible for the failed takeover is beyond ordinary expectations. He has nor morals or ethics and only cares for money and his job. John is willing to anything and everything if it benefits himself. The terrible choices people make when faced with revenge provide the most negative impact on everyone. Along with the negative impacts on people's personalities and choices, vendettas also have negative impacts on their relationships. Jennifer Government is consumed by John Nike, and she is unwilling to share her life with others according to pg. 48, when asked about dating, "I'm told you don't date." Jennifer is so busy going after John she has no time to be in a normal relationship with anyone. Moreover she does not want to get hurt again, so no one is allowed in her life. Unfortunately, closing herself to others is hurting her more than finding a partner, as she has no one to share her feelings, the good and the bad. Another example is Hack Nike who after gaining a "purpose" in his life, which is a vendetta against businesses, he abandons his long time relationship with his girlfriend. He decides to go out with her sister who shares his viewpoint that businesses are corrupt and greedy. Hack finds his new "love" quickly and hurts his original girlfriend emotionally like John Nike. The last example is John Nike has absolute no strong relationships with people. John is so consumed by his business and vendettas to care for anyone. John is so "out of it" that he is willing to kill his own daughter to save himself from Jennifer. John Nike has no one and the one person he has blood relations, he is willing to let go. This man is the perfect example of someone whose spitefulness, greediness, and carelessness has destroyed him from the inside out. He has nobody and wants nobody. Vendettas create more harm to the person because of the bad choices they make in order to complete them. Clearly and obviously, vendettas have negative impacts on people. A person's personality has more harm than good done to it as people are more aggressive and inconsiderate. Also relationships deteriorate and people become less emotionally open. Finally bad choices affect a person by confirming changes by the acts that occur. This book is a warning for those who keep vendettas. Lose the anger and forgive the person so you can be more mentally "fit" or you'll spend the rest of your life in turmoil. It's your choice, is it easier to forgive someone or keep a vendetta?