1. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lewis, Michael. The Blind Side. New York, NY, & London, England: W. W. Norton & Company, 2006.
Number of Pages: 329
2. TITLE: The Blind Side, the title is significant because it can represent many things throughout life, such as in Michael’s life, someone is always protecting your blind side, even if you don't think anyone is. Leigh Anne and the Tuohy Family were always there for Michael from the beginning, where Sean was simply paying for his lunch, until now, where he wouldn’t be going to Ole Miss without them and their generosity.
3. CHARACTERS:
Michael Oher: the protagonist of the story, and in real life, is a professional NFL offensive and left tackle. In the beginning of the story, Michael was an “orphan” and is 6’5 and 340 pounds, towers over everyone he meets and is 16 years old. Despite his size, Michael is an introvert, humble, and protective of his family.
Leigh Anne Tuohy: wife of Sean Tuohy, and the head of her family. Leigh Anne is an orthodox Christian, and a dedicated, single-minded woman. Grew up in Tennessee, has two children, Sean Junior and Collins, and is an interior designer. Being Michael’s “Guardian Angel,” Leigh Anne takes Michael into her family’s home, provides for all his needs, such as food, clothing, and even gets him his own driver license and car.
Sean Tuohy: married to Leigh Anne, Michael’s adoptive father. After Michael’s enrollment at Briarcrest, Sean offers to pay for Michael’s lunch, as he refuses, Sean does anyway by setting up a standing charge card at the lunch counter. Sean is a kind, giving person similar to his wife, and a hard-worker toward his goals, and a basketball player when he was younger. Had a similar story as Michael’s, sports was Sean’s meal ticket throughout college and high school, and was basically the “poor kid” in high school.
Denise Oher: biological mother of Michael Oher. Unfortunately, was addicted to crack, making it unable to care for her many children. In the movie, is self reserved when Leigh Anne visits her, and usually disorderly and drunk when visited by Michael in the book.
Tony Henderson/ Big Tony: enrolls Michael in the Briarcrest Christian School, along with his son Steven as a request of his late mother, despite Big Tony’s aspirations of wanting Steven to become an NBA point guard.
4. SETTING: Early 2000s, in Memphis, Tennessee.
The beginning of the story takes places in Hurt Village, an inner city housing project, with his mother, an unfortunate drug addict. This setting is symbolic because as this is located in the third poorest zip code in the nation, Michael attends Briarcrest Christian School, in one of the richest zip codes.
Michael’s high schooling takes place in East Memphis, at Briarcrest Christian School. Coming from the third poorest zip code in the nation, Michael would never imagine he would even step foot into that side of Memphis.
Michael attends Ole Miss, or the University of Mississippi, in Oxford. The Tuohys have property in Oxford, in the vicinity of Ole Miss, and both Leigh Anne and Sean are alumni of the school, somewhat pressuring Michael to attend Ole Miss.
5. PLOT:
#1-10: Starts out in the middle of a football game between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants. / Lawrence Taylor is an NFL linebacker who was always feared on the field and dominated his opponents. / Lawrence Taylor takes out Joe Theismann, ending Theismann’s football career.
#11-20: Russ Grimm wasn't able to protect Theismann’s blind side, causing the injury of both his right tibia and fibula to snap. / After being sent Michael Oher’s football tape, Tom Lemming was eager to put him on one of his high school All-American football teams.
#21-30: Technology made is easier for Lemming to recruit high school students. / Very shy and quiet at the time, Michael wasn’t interested in Tom Lemming.
#31-40: Big Tony piled Steven, his son, and Michael into his truck and drove them across Memphis, hoping to enroll both of them into a Briarcrest Christian school / Michael was in and out of public school, he repeated first and second grade, and had a grade point average of 0.6.
#41-50: Michael was accepted to Briarcrest, on the condition that he could not play any sports until he could prove that he could handle the schoolwork. / Despite not being able to read, Michael understood the material after having it read to him. / After Christmas, Michael had proven that he could handle the schoolwork, and was soon enough on the basketball court, where he had met Sean Tuohy, who would later be his adoptive father.
#51-60: After graduating from Ole Miss, Sean had a fiancé and a new religion, but still had a risky financial life, which was a mountain of debt. / Sean arranges for Michael to have a charge card at the lunch counter, despite Michael’s argument that he doesn't need any money for food. / Leigh Anne takes Michael out clothes shopping, where she finally manages to get Michael to talk.
#61-70: All the coaches at Briarcrest are impressed at Michael’s size. /During a football game, Michael catches his hand on a face mask and gashes the webbing between his fingers. After many minutes of coaxing, Michael finally went to the hospital, where he had never seen a needle, and Leigh Anne had to convince him to let the doctors fix his hand.
#71-80: After arriving home from a game, Michael refuses to go home with Big Tony’s girlfriend, who Michael overheard her saying she doesn't like him, calling him stupid and was never going to amount to anything. / Leigh Anne offers to take Mike into her home, and ends up buying him his own bed, and giving him his own room. / College coaches begin to line up to look at Michael.
#81-90: After the one performance, coaches were coming from all over the nation to have a look at Michael. / Michael finds out that his father died, but 3 months after his death.
#91-100: Bill Walsh, the assistant coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, is skipped over for head coach, and he leaves to coach for the San Francisco 49ers. / Steve Deberg, one of the NFL’s worst quarterbacks, lead his team to a 2-14 record, throwing 302 passes and completing 45.4%. / After Walsh’s new system of passing, Deberg threw 578 passes and completed 60%.
#101-110: NFL Passing Statistics. / The statistics of passing were increasing due to new rules, linesmen were now allowed to use their hands when blocking. / Defensive backs were banned to make contact with receivers more than 5 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
#111-120: Game day: January 3, 1982 / John Ayers manages to contain Taylor from reaching Montana, and the 49ers win. / John Ayers dies at 42 from cancer. / By 2004, Mike spent 4 months getting used to being a football star, and has been offered thousand of scholarships.
#121-130: During the game, Michael proceeds to run with the opposing player away from the play, and is called for excessive blocking. / Leigh Anne and Mike go to the Social Security office to get Michael a Social Security card, and find out that his name is actually Michael Jerome Williams, not Oher.
#131-140: Michael takes the written part of the drivers test, getting 5 mistakes, the maximum number you can get on the test. / After passing the written test, Michael also passes the driving portion and gets his drivers license.
#141-150: The Briarcrest Football Team plays Treadwell, a public school, who thinks they have the game in the bag. Briarcrest ends up winning the game 59-20, and also wins against Carver High. / By running Gap every play, Briarcrest ends up winning the championship.
#151-160: 2004, Leigh Anne and Sean become Michael’s official legal guardians. / Being alumni of Ole Miss, Leigh Anne and Sean are eager to see what college Michael chooses to go to.
#161-170: Leigh Anne takes it upon herself to teach Michael the basic facts of life. / Michael and SJ get into a car accident, and Mike saves SJ’s life by stopping the airbag from severely injuring him.
#171-180: Michael refuses to tell the reporters where he is going to go to college.
#181-190: February 1, 2005, Michael hold a press conference to say he intends to go to Ole Miss for college, as his family had gone there.
#191-200: The NCAA director of enforcement, Joyce Thompson, is sent to interview Michael at the Tuohy House.
#201-210: Leigh Anne hires Sue Mitchell, a tutor to help Michael get into college and play NCAA. / Mike’s grade point average of 2.05 was still not enough to get him past the NCAA. / Mike takes online classes to replace his failing grades, and is tested to see if he is learning disabled.
#211-220: Joyce visits a second time to interview Mike, this time, most of the questions are answered by Sean. / By being certified as learning-disabled, Michael was able to retake the ACT as many times as he wished.
#221-230: Michael graduates from Briarcrest, but his mother is not in attendance. / The NCAA allows Michael to attend college and play football. / Bubba Paris, the left tackle of the 49ers, was not quick and agile enough to keep up with Lawrence Taylor.
#231-240: The 49ers win against the Minnesota Vikings 34-9, with Steve Wallace as left tackle.
#241-250: That season, the 49ers win the Super Bowl, and Bill Walsh retires, but his innovation still lives on.
#251-260: Jonathan Ogden, a left tackle at UCLA, was signed to the Baltimore Ravens.
#261-270: The coaches at Ole Miss are concerned that Michael will not thrive in his freshman year. / Michael has become more confident in himself.
#271-280: The Ole Miss football team plays in the Egg Bowl, a football tournament. / Ole Miss loses to their rival, Mississippi State, 35-14.
#281-290: Michael gets into a fight with Antonio Turner, his fellow teammate at Ole Miss, as he was insulting the Tuohy Family. Caught in the moment, Mike doesn't realize that a little boy gets caught in the midst of the fight, and is seen in a pool of his own blood.
#291-300: Backstory on Michael’s mother, she was a “breeder,” having at least 11 children, from many different fathers. / The police came to the Oher house one day, sending Michael and 6 other boys running into hiding.
#301-310: Fleeing from his foster home, Mike played “hide and seek” with the Department of Children’s Services for about a year and a half. / After the fight with Turner, Michael flees from the campus in a state of anger and confusion.
#311-320: After his fight with Antonio, Mike is never prosecuted, but is sentenced to community service. / Briarcrest receives many applications from inner-city African American kids.
#321-329: Leigh Anne wants to open a foundation to help kids with athletic ability who don't have the academics to attend college, like Michael. / Mike wants to help his old friend, Craig out, and brings him to the Tuohy house often.
6. SYMBOLS:
The Blind Side: The football definition of the Blind Side is the side of the field the quarterback can’t see when he is passing the ball. In the story, the Blind Side represents how Michael Oher appeared as though magically without barely any trace of his past. One instance where the Blind Side appears is in the beginning of the story, where Lawrence Taylor tackles Joe Theismann’s Blind Side, leading him to his career end, along with a broken tibia and fibula. This happens due to the absence of Joe Jacoby, the left tackle and protector of Theismann. This signifies that even the slightest change can result in a consequence to someone’s Blind Side. The second instance the Blind Side appears in is during Michael and SJ’s car crash, Michael signifying the left tackle, and SJ being the quarterback. By protecting SJ from the airbag, Michael protected his Blind Side, since SJ would not have been able to protect himself from being crushed by the airbag.
Leigh Anne Tuohy: Despite being Michael’s adoptive mother, she is also his Guardian Angel. Leigh Anne symbolizes the kindness and caring attitude we wish everyone could have, as not everyone is brave and courageous enough to take a random teenager into your home, and care for him like your own child. One instance where Leigh Anne is most symbolized is the day after she sees Michael walking to the school at night, seeking shelter from the cold. If it wasn’t for this, Leigh Anne would never have had the thought of taking Michael out to buy him warm clothes, which eventually led up to his adoption by the Tuohys. The second instance Leigh Anne is symbolized, is at Briarcrest, in Michael’s first days of school. When Michael walks past a little girl, who attempts to greet him, she gets upset. After realizing what he has done, the next day, Michael stops to shake hands and smile with a group of small 7 year olds. As Leigh Anne realized she had to do the right thing after seeing Michael, Michael does the same thing after making the mistake not greeting the little girl.
7. THEME: The major theme of The Blind Side is to be kind, and be willing to sacrifice what you have to help others. The whole plot of the story is how the Tuohy Family is willing to give up the comfortableness of their 4 person family, to help Michael, a child who has been in and out of foster homes, sleeping on couches, and having only water to keep himself full. After being evicted from her apartment, Michael’s mother and her children had no where else to go. “For weeks she [Michael’s mother] and the seven boys slept in the car” (Lewis 298). In the Author’s Note, explains how he discovered the story, “We went to dinner again [Sean and Lewis]…when we got around to the subject of Michael Oher it took Sean about ten minutes to get her laughing, twenty to get her crying, and thirty to ruin the meal. But…in the car on the way home she said, “I don’t understand why you are writing about anything else.”
8. MOVIE: Differences between the film and the novel:
In the novel, there are two storylines, that may seem unconnected in the beginning, but end up relating to each other during the end. The first storyline is about the life of Michael Oher, how he went from the third poorest zip code in the nation to playing football for the Baltimore Ravens, a professional NFL team. The second storyline is the evolution of the left tackle position, what Michael eventually ends up playing in high school, all the way through now.
In the novel, Michael attends Briarcrest Christian School, while in the film, he attends Wingate Christian School.
In the book, Michael is interviewed by NCAA’s Joyce Thompson at the Tuohy House, along with Sean Tuohy, who ends up talking for Michael for most of the time. In the movie, Michael is called to an interview at the NCAA office to talk with Joyce by himself, and Leigh Anne escorts him.
In the novel, Michael takes online school courses to improve his grades, and also has a tutor, Miss Sue Mitchell. In the movie, Michael improves his grades only by means of Miss Sue, no online courses.
Michael goes through tests to see if he is learning disabled in the novel. While in the movie, Michael is never tested for a learning disability.
During his time at Ole Miss (University of Mississippi), Michael engages in a fight with his teammate, Antonio Turner, after he begins to insult the Tuohy Family, calling them a “cracker family.” In the film, Michael never gets into a fight with anyone at Ole Miss, but does get into a fight with gang members in Hurt Village, his old neighborhood.
In the novel, Michael never sees his siblings, after they were all separated as children. In the film, Michael reunites with one of his many brothers, a waiter at the restaurant the Tuohys were dining at.