Vicneswaran 1
Karthik Vicneswaran
Mrs. May Lasavath
English
26 October 2021
Who Is Sam Westing?
A threatening murder, a game, and 16 heirs… all in one book: The Westing Game.
The Westing Game plot started when 16 heirs of Sam Westing moved into Sunset Towers and
lived their normal lives. The conflict began when Turtle Wexler (one of the daughters of Jake
and Grace Wexler) saw Sam Westing’s corpse at the Westing mansion. The death of Sam
Westing brought the 16 heirs to play the Westing Game (to find out who killed Sam Westing). No
one knows the purpose of the Westing Game. However, they realised that there might be a
possibility that Sam Westing was not dead. Perhaps Sandy Mcsouthers (the doorman) was most
likely Sam Westing. This is because of three following factors: Sandy’s knowledge about
Mrs.Westing, Sandy’s age, and Barney Northrup’s surname.
Firstly, Sandy is Sam Westing, because of his knowledge about Mrs. Westing (who is
the ex-wife of Sam Westing). In Chapter 15 of The Westing Game, it is stated that Sandy knew
about Mrs.Westing’s facial features, such as her “blonde” hair (Raskin 93). Often, people with
the best memory have more knowledge about other people or events. In this case, if Sandy knew
about Mrs.Westing’s facial features (which is a very intimate detail), hence he has to be close to
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Mrs.Westing. In addition to this, Sandy also knows a lot of information about the rest of the
heirs. Therefore, Sandy might be Sam Westing, due to Sandy’s knowledge of the Westing heirs.
The corpse of Sam Westing also proves that Sam Westing is Sandy Mcsouthers as well.
In Chapter 22 of The Westing Game, Judge Ford argued that the 65-year old corpse’s face inside
the casket looked like Sam Westing “fifteen years ago” (Raskin 136). Usually, when someone's
face looks different, their face might have been remodeled by plastic surgery. In this case,
Samuel Westing’s face was supposed to be his 65-year old self. However, the face in the casket
looked like Sam Westing 15 years ago (which means the face most likely had been remodeled by
plastic surgery). This proves that Sam Westing is still alive. Another thing to note is that Sandy
himself is very old in the Westing Game. Therefore, that proves that Sandy is Samuel Westing
himself.
Lastly, Sandy Mcsouthers is Sam Westing, because of Barney Northrup’s (the owner of
Sunset Towers) surname. In Chapter 1 of The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin mentioned that there
was “no such person as Barney [North-rup]” (1). Typically North, South, East, and West
represent the four directions on a compass (and also most likely the four identities of Sam
Westing). In this case, if there was no such person as Barney Northrup, then Sam Westing could
be in disguise in another identity, which has the name of one of the four directions (South, or
East; since Sam Westing has the word West in his name). The only person who has a direction in
his name is Sandy McSouthers. Hence, this provides additional evidence that Sandy is Sam
Westing.
To summarise, here is what happened before the real Westing Game started. Westing
decided to do his Fourth of July celebration, this is how Westing did it. Firstly, he got the idea to
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make his wax dummy which needed to be molded in the former image of himself fifteen years
ago. Next, he wrote the fake Westing Will (which includes the game). Next, Sam Westing may
have disguised as Barney Northrup, and rented an apartment which was called Sunset Towers.
Then, he told Otis Amber to deliver the letters for the tenants-to-be. Then, Barney Northrup
(Sam Westing’s disguise), led the tours around and about Sunset Towers. Once that was done,
Westing disguised as a doorman who was named Sandy Mcsouthers. All these comes to one
conclusion, Sandy Mcsouthers is Sam Westing
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Works Cited
Raskin, Ellen. “The Westing Game.” Puffin Modern Classics, 1978, pp. 1-147.
