What Makes Sammy Run?

Al Manheim is the narrator of the story, and he is immediately presented as a foil to Sammy’s ambitious individualism. Within the first few pages of the book, he says to himself, “Al, I don’t give a goddam if you never move your ass off this seat again. If you never write another line. I default. If it’s a race, you can scratch my name right now. Al Manheim does not choose to run” (5). This interior monologue immediately contrasts Al with Sammy, who is constantly running, both literally and figuratively. Al also proclaims himself to be an idealist, and he often engages with people on an emotional, empathetic level, something Sammy is unable or unwilling to do. He listens to the plights of Rosalie and Julian and experiences genuine emotional reactions to their stories. Even Sammy’s backstory is able to spark emotion within Al, allowing him to feel for Sammy even as he judges his actions.

Some of Al’s differences from Sammy present themselves in negative ways. He lacks Sammy’s ambition and is willing to experience life passively. Repeatedly, he lets things happen to him instead of making things happen himself. He goes to Hollywood because someone calls him to offer a job, he signs up for the Screen Writers Guild at Kit’s urging, and he returns to Hollywood on the chance offer Sammy makes to him. His relationship with Kit is delayed in its development due to this passivity, as is his writing career. Even his fascination with Sammy is, by his own admission, more compulsion than an active choice. Traveling to the street where Sammy grew up to research his childhood, Al seems guided by this compulsion: “[W]hen [he] turned casually out of the park and began strolling down Fifth Avenue, it was without the slightest knowledge of where [he] was heading” (219). Though this may be Al trying to distance himself from an interest that is so opposite to his morals, it is mirrored in his passive behavior toward Sammy. He intervenes against Sammy only in defense of Rosalie and Julian, and in the case of Julian, he needs Kit to be the one to act.

By the novel’s close, Al has come to terms with his fascination with Sammy. Admitting that he had been “waiting for justice suddenly to rise up and smite him in all its vengeance, secretly hoping to be around when Sammy got what was coming to him” (302), he accepts that Sammy’s punishment is to remain alone and afraid forever. Al has found love in a mutually fulfilling relationship, has discovered joy in his work in screenwriting, and has exerted his moral backbone while knowing it would lead to professional failure. That he is able to take the initiative to leave at the end of the novel, not letting Sammy talk him into staying as he would have before, shows his growth. Unlike Sammy, Al is able to develop himself, rather than his career.

Kit Sargent exists in a space between Al’s good-natured passivity and Sammy’s harsh individualism, and she serves as a foil for Sammy in a different way than Al does. She is just as capable of working the Hollywood machine as Sammy is, but she uses her power to fight for the rights of her fellow screenwriters, rather than only for herself. She leads the Screen Writers Guild’s organizing efforts, and she also uses her business savvy to help Al protect Julian Blumberg from Sammy’s predatory practices. Her actions often cost individuals in the short term, while strengthening the collective. Al recognizes this in Kit, thinking as they talk Julian into not accepting the studio’s offer that “Here is a kid who is finally getting the break he’s been waiting for and deserves and he’s dying to take it, and who the hell can blame him, and Kit, that coldhearted humanitarian, isn’t going to let him” (187). She takes a similar approach to her relationship with Al. Refusing to follow him to New York or maintain a relationship while he’s there hurts both of them in the short term, but ultimately strengthens their relationship. They both avoid the resentment that would have built up had Kit followed Al, making a stronger basis for their eventual marriage.

Kit is also characterized by her genuine love of screenwriting. She comforts Al by telling him that though he “may not believe it […] there are some writers out here who really write” (92). She is able to critique Hollywood’s cynicism while still working to not only make art, but to make the industry safer for future writers. It is Kit’s genuineness and honesty that most represent her character. She doesn’t soften the truth or change her opinion on things to fit into a particular worldview, but she instead tries to recognize the reality of a situation and judge from there. She understands people and how to get things accomplished, but rather than making her hate people, as it does with Sammy, this understanding makes her better able to fight for the collective.

By the end of the novel, Kit has shown great determination and grit. She’s survived multiple political shakeups in Hollywood and hasn’t given up on the Guild even after it was almost ruined by Sammy. Her ability to survive and thrive in Hollywood while maintaining her personal morals and philosophy presents an alternate path to Sammy’s self-centered and egoistic approach. She has also grown through her relationship with Al. Having started out wanting desperately to be on her own, despite her mother’s wishes, she is able to build a mutually beneficial relationship with Al and commit to marrying him, while still being committed to her work and writing.