Curt Lemon

Upon reading the chapter, "The Dentist," in TTTC, the character of Curt Lemon stood out to me in particular.  The chapter revolves around describing a brief story about the deceased Curt Lemon, but what really stuck out to me was the opening description of this man.  Described as someone who on occasion "took it way too far," and someone who "couldn't stop bragging," always talking about himself and his accomplishments, Lemon seems to stick with us as readers because we all know somebody like this.  Reading O'Brien's description of him, I was immediately able to connect that personality with that of people I know or once knew.  Lemon is a very relatable character, hopefully not in the sense that he is like us, but he is like a one dimensional version of people around us, whether it be people in the media or people we know personally.  Lemon hides his low self-esteem underneath a veil of cockiness, and faux self-confidence.  Lemon allows himself to lose a perfectly good tooth through extraction, for the sole purpose of saving face after his fainting episode.  He cares so much about others opinions of him, that he willingly harms himself.  Although we only know him for a couple of brief pages, Curt Lemon is a much deeper character that he appears to be, and himself epitomizes a poor quality in all of us.