A young man who is slightly older than Jenkins. Widmerpool is something of an unpopular student and never completely fits in with groups, either at school or in social situations later in life. Widmerpool becomes the subject of some "ragging" from other students and Jenkins notes that Widmerpool's personality is augmented by his appearance. He wears a jacket that is sufficiently outdated and strange-looking so that Jenkins' friend begins saying that some particular piece of clothing is looking "very Widmerpool." The first story Jenkins relates about Widmerpool is that he is working at athletics, in spite of the fact that he does not do well in athletics. Though he is not an apt athlete, he is constantly working at honing his skills. He is equally anxious to do well on other fronts. For example, he travels to France where his goal is to learn French and while there, he seems upset any time Jenkins does not work at French. Widmerpool only reluctantly agrees to speak a language other than French because Jenkins wants to. Jenkins notes that, even as an adult, Widmerpool is still something less than outgoing and accepted but Jenkins is surprised when someone else seems to take Widmerpool and his ideas seriously.
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