The History Boys- Posner

I think that Posner is the most interesting person in the play because although he is the bottom of the group and least popular in terms of hierarchy, he seems to be one of the most important people to the play. His character is introduced as him being smart but a bit of a know it all because he always reaches for his dictionary whenever he doesn't know what a word means but it quickly becomes apparent that he is important when we learn the specifics of his life just as we do the other important characters. He also makes himself stand out of the crowd when Hector is asking who wants to ride on his bike with him and every other character is clearly making up lies just so that they don't have to go, Posner actually volunteers himself and then is quite clearly rejected and this makes us feel sympathy for him because he isn't good enough for really any of the characters and this could be what leads him to his future.

It becomes obvious that he is homosexual through he body language towards Dakin and the way that he talks about it. He seems to be very open about his sexuality and it shows how comfortable he is to talk about it. It then becomes known knowledge when he talks to Irwin about it and then Irwin talks to Dakin about it and he seems to already know but finds it boring. This is when we start to feel real sympathy for his character because he seems to be jumping through hoops to get Irwin's attention and yet when it comes to Posner, he becomes bored as if it is cliché. This only shows more rejection of Posners character because in Dakins mind, he isn't even important enough to be thought about.

At the end of the play, we find out that Posner has had a nervous break-down and becomes a rather sad character because it is implied that he talks to younger people on the internet, pretending to be their age and gender. This haunts his character because this is how his character has developed and this is the lasting impression you have of him. It's unexpected because it seemed that he was the only one who really took on what Hector said and yet he is the only one who seems to have become this tragic and lonely character. The only glimpse that we have of this that it may occur is when he is the only one in the room with Hector and Hector puts his hand out as he is talking about when you think that an idea is individual to you and yet, you may come across it in a book and it's as if a hand is reaching out and as he reaches out his hand, Posner moves his hand slightly as if he is going to take it and then Hector takes his hand back and as a reader, you can feel the rejection wash over you. This gives an understanding why Posner became who he is.