Brock Turner Character Analysis in Talking to Strangers

Brock Turner is a former Stanford University student who was convicted on three felony charges of sexual assault in 2016. Turner and the woman he assaulted, known in court documents as Emily Doe, met at a fraternity party in January 2015. Allegedly, they drank, danced, and engaged in consensual sexual activity together before exiting the party. At some point, Doe lost consciousness. Two Stanford graduate students spotted Brock on top of the unconscious Doe and confronted him. When Turner attempted to flee, the graduate students apprehended him until authorities could arrive. Gladwell sees the Turner case as an instance where alcohol’s myopic characteristics make the already difficult chance of understanding strangers—and discerning their consent—more difficult.

Brock Turner Character Timeline in Talking to Strangers

The timeline below shows where the character Brock Turner appears in Talking to Strangers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

1. Chapter Eight opens with a transcript from the trial of Brock Turner. The prosecutor asks a Stanford University graduate student, Peter Jonsson, to recall the events of... (full context)

2. The situation between Turner and Doe isn’t unique. Many college-aged people meet at parties and choose to go home... (full context)

3. In his trial, Brock Turner admitted to consuming approximately five Rolling Rock beers and an unspecified amount of Fireball Whiskey... (full context)

Doe and Turner met around midnight and started dancing. They chatted, started kissing, and walked outside after Doe... (full context)

Ultimately, the jury ruled against Turner because they found his story unbelievable. It didn’t make sense to them that Turner would... (full context)

...as much alcohol as Doe drank that night. Later, she has no memory of meeting Turner, nor anything that happened afterward. She testifies that she would never leave the party with... (full context)

While Turner claims to have remembered every stage of the night, this version of events was the... (full context)

At the end of Turner’s trial, Emily Doe read aloud a letter addressed to Turner, detailing the emotional trauma she... (full context)

Doe delivered a “scathing” response to Turner’s statement, in which he called for the implementation of an alcohol education program on campus.... (full context)