Character Sketch: William Forrester

William Forrester (Sean Connary) is a recluse in this movie. He was a very good writer, who published just one book and won a Pulitzer for it. He lives in this own apartment and is not very friendly at first. He has arrangements with a company, which has someone come to his house and to give him his groceries for around a month. William also has outstanding debts, which looks like he will soon be in trouble, as he lives like a hermit and never leaves his house, so it would be safe to assume that he doesn’t have a job.
Soon he finds out that a boy, who used to play at the park, broke into his house and left his backpack there. William out of curiosity opens it and finds a notebook, he also finds that he liked what he was reading. He knew the young boy had promise and had a talent for writing. After reading it he even corrects the writings and wrote comments on it, comments like this is fantastic and specifics needed. He then throws the backpack down on the road, when the boy was looking. The boy finds the corrections and then musters up the courage to go back to William’s house and ask him to mentor him. William finds that the young boy’s name is Jamal Wallace and he shares his passion for writing and reading. The young boy finds that William is a recluse and so he used this to trap him into a situation, he says he would keep his secret if William becomes his mentor. William decides it cannot be harmful. Although I think what William really wanted was to relive his young days. The days when he started writing.
In school Jamal doesn’t work much and tries just to fit in although he deserves and can attain extremely good grades in English, but he tries not to stand out. When the school makes all students take some test Jamal achieves exceptional marks, an excellent private school approaches the head of his current school. Jamal finds this decision very difficult to make and William again helps him here. He looks at the big picture and convinces Jamal that he cannot flourish at a second rate school and instead for him to really learn something he need to switch schools.
This relationship, which seems to have started as a fluke, turns into a beautiful friendship. Jamal even convinces William to leave his house and go watch a game. But leaving the house after 20 years is difficult for William and he finds himself stuck in a crowd, not knowing where to go. It is obvious that he was overwhelmed by the shock of getting out of his house and so Jamal should not have left him alone even for a second. William, who seems to be dazed, goes where ever the crowd took him.
In my opinion, William Forrester is an idol for a starting writer like Jamal Wallace. He is funny, only when passing sarcastic comments. He is a recluse, doesn’t like to leave his house, which for him is a safe place. He likes making videos but that too staying within the premises of the house. He likes cleanliness and order to the point where he stopped his writing until Jamal pushed a book in properly so that it was in line with the others. William developed a close relationship with Jamal even though he did not want it at first. He dodged every question that he thought was unnecessary in way of Jamal’s mentoring. William never gave any personal information but Jamal being inquisistive, was persistant and kept asking.
William is a man of loyalty, ethics and morals too. Jamal gets into trouble at school once. He is accused of plagiarism and is disqualified from a story competition. He even faces expulsion. William then leaves his house, for the first time in twenty years, and comes to Jamal's rescue. he reads the story out for Jamal (as Jamal himself is not allowed to). He gets a standing ovation for the story and later he tells his audience that he had been reading Jamal’s story.
William is generous and giving as well. Apart from giving Jamal attention and the guidance he needed, when he dies he leaves his second unpublished book to Jamal and hopes that Jamal writes a forward for him.