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Teiona Boucher
Professor Frazier L. O’Leary, Jr 
IGED 110 Foundation Writing
September 27, 2022

Being “the other” usually represents how society often perceived a person as not belonging

or as being different in some fundamental way. In “I Came As A Shadow” an autobiography by

John Thomspon, there are some characters who exemplify the concept of otherness. It is evident

that John Robert Thompson Senior, Patrick Ewing, and Mary Fenlon can all be classified as the

other.

John Robert Thompson Senior, John’s father, always says to him “Son, study the white man”

(7). His father was teaching him how to figure out how things operated while being a black

person beyond where they live. His father could not read nor write. Growing up, due to the

system, some of the children in his family had to work while some went to school. He grew up

56 miles from the nation’s capital and he could not obtain basic education. He had to work to

ensure food was on family’s table. To him, hard work meant labor, sweat, doing something

physical that will produce result.

Patrick was one of John’s athletes at Georgetown. He was born in Jamaica and didn’t come to

the United States until he was 12 years old. As a result, his reading was not as strong as it could

have been. Patrick was a very good player. His coach at the time, Jarvis, set up a recruiting

process for college where Patrick could get help and free tuition. John attended the session and

impressed both Patrick and his parents. Later down Patrick went to a conference to announce the

college he chose, he then said, “After considering all the facts, I’ve decided to attend
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Georgetown University” (145). When he made the statement half the room walked out.

Georgetown is a predominantly white school and they thought, what would make him want to go

there. Soon, after he signed the contract with Georgetown, a Boston newspaper published stories

about his education. Seeing that he was black, they made up stupid stories about him. They

further stated that the only reason he was recruited at Georgetown was only for basketball. This

was a lie about him that he never escaped. John was more hurt than Patrick was. John stated that

“Patrick was a solid student whose progress had been limited due to him coming to a new

country and people only thought he was a ‘nigger’ who didn’t know his place” (146).

Mary Fenlon worked closely with John. She grew up in Washington Dc and she was also

white. As stated by John she was probably the first woman in the country working full time with

a men’s college team. As a white individual, she wasn’t intimidated by the influx of black people

in her environment. She was comfortable and dealt with the black players like people. Some

black folks in Washington would pressure John about why he was hiring white people. He hired

them because they were extremely capable of doing their jobs but instead, he told them “I’m

going to this white university, so I need some white people to go in front and tell me who’s out

to get me” (98). She also helped John figure out everything that needed to be in contract for

players to succeed academically.

It can be concluded that throughout the story the theme of otherness is heavily portrayed by

John Robert Thompson Senior, Patrick Ewing, and Mary Fenlon. All three characters are

example of the other, based on how they’re viewed by society.

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Work Cited

Thompson, John, with Jesse Washington. I Came As A Shadow. Holt 2020.