# Jake Martin — Short Fiction character guide

> Jake Martin in Short Fiction by Ring Lardner.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Jake, Martin, Martin Gregory, Brother Martin, Brother, dear little Brother Martin

**First appearance:** 0000-my-roomy

## Snapshot

A brother whose advice arrives with the weight of scripture and the timing of a process server, Jake Martin is the voice in the letter that tells you what you already feared.

## Who they are

Jake Martin is the correspondent whose letters carry the tone of a man who has already decided how the story ends. He writes with the familiarity of a brother and the authority of someone who believes he knows better, and the tension in his scenes comes from the gap between his confidence and the reader's suspicion that he is wrong. In the early arc, he matters because his words set the terms of the argument the protagonist is having with himself.

## In the story

### [Sick ’Em](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/sick-em)

The narrator's confidant, to whom he tells the story in confidence.

### [The Crook](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/the-crook)

Young ballplayer with talent but chokes in pressure situations; Bull tries to help him overcome it.

### [Ball-a-Hole](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/ball-a-hole)

Fellow caddy who partners with the narrator, sharing in the profits and conspiring to cheat the golfers.

### [The Yellow Kid](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/the-yellow-kid)

A handler or manager figure involved with the Kid's career.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/characters/jake_martin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_62_se/characters