The fix essay

This is most definitely not done. Definitely a rough sketch ha....


Many of us try to see our decisions through God’s eyes-- to improve ourselves by making moral choices. But are we really able to step back and know exactly, “what would Jesus do?” In “The Fix,” Percival Everett plays with this idea by writing the story as a modern day biblical story. Everett comments on man’s obsession with improvement, and with this, his loss of sight through God’s eyes. He accomplishes this through the use of characterization and conflict—while creating a current day setting completely different from the Bible that we can relate to.
Through the use of characterization, Everett parallels his characters with those from the Bible. The reader definitely can see a resemblance between Sherman Olney and Jesus. Like Jesus, he can fix things, whether it be a refrigerator, a relationship, or even a life. Olney never acts in selfish ways, and when it was needed, Olney sacrifices himself for the good of others. He says, “You have to be careful what you fix…if you irrigate a desert, you might empty a sea” (143). Sometimes fixing things isn’t the best option—it might ruin something else. Through our imperfections, we may benefit overall. When Jesus was crucified, he suffered for our sins. He realized that people aren’t perfect, but He loved us enough anyway to die for us. Sherman and Jesus both have the same philosophy that perfection sometimes isn’t the best solution. In the story, everyone wants a piece of Sherman—he is “the empty sea” (143). Everyone just keeps taking a part of him each time he fixes something until he is completely empty. When Jesus helps us through difficult times, we are taking a part of him. We look to someone else to help fix us or our problems, just like the crowd of people did to Sherman as he was jumping of the bridge. I think this represents many of followers of Christ when they’re all screaming “fix us” at the end of the story. Everyone has something they need fixing, especially a quick fix, so these crowds of people depended on Sherman for their obsession with improving their imperfections. Like Sherman, people depend on Jesus for a quick fix. When they have a problem or need help, they pray to God to fix things up. Sometimes, these problems can be worked out on their own, without the help of God, so it leads me to believe that some people are just looking for a quick fix for their shortcomings in life.
The conflicts in this story have similar qualities to some conflicts in the Bible. When Douglas told his wife that he invited Sherman to stay at the store, she didn’t trust Sherman at all. She worried that Sherman would be “halfway to Philadelphia with twelve pounds of Genoa salami” (135). Until Sherman proved himself to her by fixing her foot massager, she expected him to steal her savings and take advantage of Douglas’s kindness. This is very similar to Jesus’ conflicts with people. When Jesus was resurrected from the dead, one of his apostles, Thomas, did not believe it until he saw Jesus’ scars and placed his fingers in Jesus’ side. Also, many people didn’t actually believe Sherman could fix everything until they heard that Sherman saved a woman’s life. Everett seems to point out people’s overall distrust in others with this conflict-- people can’t see through God’s eyes because they look at the flaws in other people. An internal conflict with which Sherman deals throughout the story is that he wants to help fix people, but he knows sometimes he shouldn’t. Sherman tells Douglas that “you have to be careful about what you fix” (143)—that sometimes fixing things isn’t the right thing to do. Certainly, Jesus would have loved to help everyone, but it wasn’t the right to do. When we pray to God, it’s in God’s hands because sometimes the perfect option for you isn’t the perfect option for every. God will give people everything they need, but he won’t give them everything they want, just like Sherman. Ultimately, because of people’s obsession with perfection or improvement towards perfection, Sherman decides it’s better for everyone if the temptation of him is gone forever.
“The Fix” by Percival Everett parallels some of the philosophical teachings in the Bible. Everett accomplishes this by creating similar characters in the story from the Bible with similar conflicts.