Mark is described as someone who brags about outearning and outperforming others, especially immigrants, but who is actually quite spoiled. He had ambitions of using science to improve lives but hadn't improved his own. The narrator took Mark to experience urban America, but Mark kept trying to justify things "scientifically" rather than open his mind. The story questions Mark's boasts about his future success and sees his views as narrow and prejudiced rather than the "3D" perspective he claimed to have.