William Henry "Hank" Devereaux Jr. and Charlie Thurber are two men lost in the realm of college departmental politics in similar contexts. The main character of Straight Man, a novel by Richard Russo, William Henry "Hank" Devereaux Jr., son of an English professor and critic, wrote a novel, Off the Road, early in his career. However, it has not produced anything since then. Hank likes to believe he lives life by Occam's Razor, despite the complexities that continue to plague him. He is the reluctant president of a small-town Pennsylvania college who finds himself facing rumors of cutbacks and layoffs, causing distrust and backstabbing among his fellow professors. Charlie Thurber is the protagonist of Tenure, a film by Mike Million, with Luke Wilson, Gretchen Mol and David Koechner. He's an English professor at a small-town college who needs to publish something to have a chance at tenure. Despite the fact that the college's English department hired an Ivy League professor to tenure-track positions. His father is a retired professor who currently lives in an assisted living facility and has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. It was never specified where the fictional Gray College is located, but it was filmed using Pennsylvania colleges. Hank and Charlie share some very close similarities. Both are college professors of English at small-town universities. Both are mired in the interpersonal struggles of colleagues inside and outside their departments. Both have fathers who are famous university professors who are now in declining health, about which they have strange feelings. Both have encountered some sort of professional obstacle. Hank hasn't written anything since his first novel, and Charlie is unable to publish anything... in the middle of paper... which is compounded by both individuals' personal difficulties. Each man seems to be able to overcome the difficulties of his department, but just barely. Both manage to overcome the situation by doing the opposite of what is expected and going against the grain of what others expect of them. Both Hank and Charlie end each of their stories with a new perspective on their lives. Both stories are also able to focus on the absurdities of everyday life and the struggle to find peace for oneself outside the heat of corporate politics and family turmoil. The translatability of both protagonists to each of us makes you root for them and wish them the best in the end. References Million, Mike, Dir. Mandate. Perf. Luke Wilson. Scion Films: 2009, Film.Russo, R. (1998). Straight man. Vintage.