Love the Great Brain or hate him, we have to admire him. Or do we? J.D. certainly admires his older brother, and so do lots of other people in The Great Brain. Thing is, while his vast intellect is certainly impressive, he often uses it for his own gain instead of truly doing good. And is that actually admirable? We suppose it depends on what you value: If it's raw talent, then yup, Tom's your dude. If you're more interested in what people do for others, though, you just might find him hard to look up to.
Questions About Admiration
- Which characters do you admire in this book? Why? How do they compare to Tom?
- Does Tom deserve J.D.'s admiration? Why or why not?
- Does Tom admire anyone? Who? How can you tell? What does this tell you about his values?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Tom totally deserves J.D.'s admiration.
Tom absolutely does not deserve J.D.'s admiration.