“The Scholarship Jacket” is a short story written by Martha Salinas. The story brings out the difficulties of Martha, an eighth-grade student, who wishes to win the scholarship jacket. Winning the jacket has been a tradition of Martha’s school where any student who maintains the first position during the eight years in school is awarded as the valedictorian. Martha naturally wants to win the jacket and works very hard for it. However, one day the principal informs her that now the jacket will cost money, which Martha cannot afford. Her grandfather explains to Martha that if she has to pay money for that jacket, then it is not a reward at all. So, the principal of the school decides to make an exception that year as he agrees to Martha having the jacket without paying the money. The story is quite straightforward in its narrative as it explores themes of corruption and honesty. It serves as a very good reading lesson for children and provides an insight into the saying “honesty is the best policy.” Martha chooses to respect the traditional value of the Jacket, and by doing so, she is able to receive the jacket with sincere efforts. So, the story focuses on how, by doing well and being truthful to oneself, one can achieve impossible things.
“The Scholarship Jacket” | Summary
The story starts when the narrator of the story, Martha, tells the reader about her school. The Texas school has a tradition where the top student who maintains the first position until the eighth grade is given a jacket. It is called the “scholarship jacket” and is gold and green in color. It also has a big gold-colored ‘s’ written on the left side while the name of the winner is written on the pocket. Martha wants that jacket because her eldest sister Rosie has also won it during school. As Martha’s parents are poor, they cannot afford to go on school trips and take part in sports competitions. So, for Martha, who has been living with her grandparents, it is the only jacket she can win. Martha is a straight-A student, but her classmates call her “beanpole” and “string bean” to tease her. Still, Martha is never fazed by the taunts and works harder.
One day, as she is going to fetch her P.E. clothes, she hears her history teacher, Mr. Schmidt, and her math teacher, Mr. Boone, arguing. They are talking about the scholarship jacket, and Martha cannot help but overhear. As the conversation continues, Martha can pretty much figure out the reason for their fight. Mr. Schmidt is defending Martha, claiming she deserves the jacket, but Mr. Boone wants him to cheat and give the jacket instead to Joan, whose father is on the school board as well as owning the only shop in town. Martha is heartbroken to hear this conversation. She goes to her classroom where Mr. Boone is still there, gets her clothes, and then flees from the room.
The next day at school, Martha is called into the principal’s office, and she immediately understands the reason. The principal informs her that now the Board of the school has decided to charge fifteen dollars. Martha is shocked to hear this, but she is still not ready to give up without a fight. She informs the principal that she will talk to her grandfather and let him know. When she gets home, she goes to her Grandpa, who is out working in the fields. On her way, she thinks of various ways she could convince him. However, Martha realizes that the only option is for her to be honest; otherwise, her eight years of hard work would go to waste. As she informs her grandfather about the situation, he only asks her one question – What does a scholarship jacket mean? When Martha answers the question, she realizes that the scholarship jacket was never about the money. Martha’s Grandpa says that if they paid for it, it would not be a scholarship jacket, so he requests Martha to tell the principal that he will not pay for it.
Angry and sad, Martha returns the next day to the principal’s office to inform them about her grandfather’s decision. When the principal asks why, Martha simply gives the answer she had given to her Grandpa earlier. At the mention of Joan getting the jacket, however, the principal finally caves in and says that they will make an exception in her case; he will ask the board to give her the jacket. Martha is overjoyed to hear this and rushes back home, the happiest she has ever been. Mr. Schmidt congratulates her as well. She goes straight to her grandfather to tell him about it, who is very happy to hear it, even though he never expresses it, and only asks Martha to go help her grandmother.
“The Scholarship Jacket” | Analysis
The story is written from the first person’s point of view, specifically from Martha’s point of view as she deals with the troubles of acquiring the scholarship jacket. The jacket here is the main plot point of the story, and as Martha attempts to win it respectably, she has to face corruption among grown-ups. The whole story is technically a lesson in honesty as it shows the rewards of being a good person. The protagonist of the story is Martha, and the antagonist of the story can be considered to be the Board of the School, which comprises a few people. However, they are the kind of people who can be completely bought off, just like Mr. Boone, who is ready to lower Martha’s grade unfairly even though she worked so hard for it. Nonetheless, Martha does not waver in her personality just because of a few people’s greed, and with the help of her Grandpa, who shows her the right path again, manages to achieve her goal in a way that would make her feel better. The story has been written in a plain style and follows the traditional way of storytelling where the story is easy to read, and the morale comes through. By writing this story, Salinas has tried to show how the simplest of gestures can result in beautiful things.
“The Scholarship Jacket” | Themes
The main themes of this story are corruption, greed, hard work, and faithfulness. The story touches upon the concept of exploitation, but it does so in a small way. Perhaps Salinas is trying to show that corruption is present even in the very place where they teach about ethical things. Martha had always been a very honest, diligent girl who had been working from the very first grade to get the scholarship jacket. She used every opportunity to study and earn exceptionally good marks; the only thing she lacked was money, and due to this, she could not take part in sports programs and school trips. However, Joan’s father uses Martha’s weakness as a tool to achieve his end. He bribes Mr. Boone to lower her grades unfairly, even though she worked so hard for it. Nonetheless, Martha does not waver in her personality just because of a few people’s greed, and with the help of her Grandpa, who shows her the right path again, manages to achieve her goal in a way that would make her feel better. The story has been written in a plain style and follows the traditional way of storytelling where the story is easy to read, and the morale comes through. By writing this story, Salinas has tried to show how the simplest of gestures can result in beautiful things.
“The Scholarship Jacket” | Title of the Story
The title of the story is the very object around which the story “The Scholarship Jacket” revolves. The object of interest is a jacket painted in gold and green colors. It has a large ‘s’ written on it on the left side, and on the pocket, the name of the winner is written in gold letters. According to the story, the title fits the story perfectly as Martha struggles against her conscience to earn the jacket in any way possible. Only when Martha herself says out loud her intentions does she realize the true importance of the jacket and the ideology behind it.
“The Scholarship Jacket” | Character Sketch
There are two important characters in this story, first is the protagonist herself, Martha. Martha is an intelligent and studious girl who has been working patiently to rightfully own the scholarship jacket. However, the Board demands fifteen dollars for it due to the extortion proposed by Joan’s father. Martha on her quest to get the jacket loses her sense of responsibility and is ready to get those fifteen dollars to justify her hard work. Along the way, however, Martha’s Grandpa opens her eyes to the true value of earning something by their hard work alone which leads to Martha getting her jacket the right way. Martha’s grandfather was an old man who worked on the farms, so perhaps he knew better than her what was the result of a work done without any ulterior motives and the rewards it gave. So he was able to lead Martha to her much-needed character development which would be a very good thing for her in the future.
