This is Nigel's reaction to the murder of his two "soldiers," DeEric Green and Michael Butler, shown in a scene that rivals the dog fight (and perhaps the sex between Rachel and Aris) in terms of graphic detail. DeEric understands the "game"—or at the very least he accepts the risks it brings. "Green like what this life gave him. He wasn't ashamed of one thing" (102). Michael is another story: "Green wondered why Butler wanted to be in the life at all." Lorenzo knows why Nigel keeps this boy around, a boy who had never handled a gun and didn't "take pleasure in being hard," who "didn't talk about football, fucking up dudes, killing bitches in the bed, or none of that" (100). Lorenzo knows "Nigel liked to pick the most promising, most intelligent ones out and take them under his wing. It never did work out. None who stayed on came to a good end. This was the one definite of the game. Still, Nigel kept trying to promote the ones he felt had promise. He was an optimist that way" (112).
Lorenzo, as Aldo called him today after class, is a survivor: he now knows "'but if these kids knew how it has to end...I mean, if you could only tell 'em'" (146). But he can only know this because was lucky enough to survive, unlike poor DeEric and Michael.
That's a lot of lead in, I know, to the questions. So here they are.
1. Your reaction to the murders of DeEric and Michael? And is the book in this glorifying violence?
2. The question I want to start off with tomorrow is what is the book's commentary on the drug culture in the book, specifically the dealers? To get at this, we have to think about what the book says about why these young men fall so easily into it—and, as the book repeats again and again, it is a choice. The obvious reason is money, we get that. But what else? Quote from the book in this answer. And try not to repeat what others say: there are only so many answers to this, but try to add shadings to what others have said before you. And: is the book glorifying the dealers, glorifying the "game"?
3. Last question: what do you think of the Lorenzo we see at the end of the reading? Surprised? Not surprised?
Finally, here's a clip from the first season of The Wire, from an episode written by...George Pelecanos. It could come straight from the book. These are three old friends.
See you all tomorrow. Remember: your answer needs to be up by 8:30.
1. I suppose I was expecting some sort of gang violence, but the way it happened was a little surprising. I’m not sure that I understand why it happened exactly. Is the point that we’re supposed to get that Rico is just crazy? I’m hoping that it will tie into the story later on. I don’t think that violence is being glorified. People put violence into books, movies, and TV shows because it’s compelling. There’s nothing wrong with it as long as it’s done well and it has a purpose. Violence is a part of life. It’s certainly a realistic aspect of the lives of drug dealers. However, I’m going to need some more convincing that this particular scene wasn’t just stuck in here to give us a shock and the sense that things are really bad.
ReplyDelete2. I think the commentary is that it’s a nasty business and it’s quite easy to get caught up in it. Besides Rico, none of the dealers are really villains in the story. They’re all presented as pretty normal people who made some poor choices. Or maybe they didn’t even make the choices. Maybe they never really had a chance to live a crime free life. The point is, I don’t think Pelecanos wants us to feel any animosity towards any of them (again, excluding Rico). We’re just supposed to empathize with everyone. Lorenzo isn’t really any different than the dealers. In fact, he sort of lucked out in that he got sent to jail before he ended up like DeEric and Michael. He got a chance to start a new life. After the confrontation between the four dealers, DeEric says to Michael, “Melvin was scared. I could tell just by lookin’ at him…. Melvin don’t belong out here no more”(125). None of them really belong out there. It’s just a result of shitty circumstances. As for glorifying drug dealing; reading this does not make me want to become a drug dealer. So no: I don’t think that this book glorifies drug dealing. If anything, I feel bad for the people involved.
3. It was surprising because we’ve only seen Lorenzo calm and collected up until this point. He’s never lost it before. However, it does make sense. I wrote on the last blog that he’s not actually a changed person. He’s just doing what’s necessary to live his life. That includes shutting his old violent way up deep inside him. They’re clearly still there.
1. I think the book did an interesting job of not glorifying the violence. Many of us, probably all of us, do not know what it looks like to get shot with a shotgun from that close of a range, but I imagine it would cause something pretty close to what happened to DeEric. The anger and tension that was building under Rico really spills out in this chapter, but I did not expect such a gruesome description as that. It was shocking but exciting to read, and I remember freaking out quite a bit when I read that scene.
ReplyDelete2.Money does play a factor, but I think a large reason for these men is power. They are born into a poor family, with little hope to be had for their future and their wellbeing. A man comes along promising them money, a position in a gang, and a role in something bigger. That participation and power that comes from being part of the gang adds a lot of incentive for the young men in Drama City. When DeEric confronts Miller and Lee, and wins, Butler is amazed at his cool and says in admiration, "You punked him" (125). This confrontation was a battle of power and control, and DeEric came out on top. He gained that control and power, and Michael Butler was amazed.
3. I am not surprised. His job has him under high stress and just like the drug addicts we see in previous chapters, Lorenzo is addicted to his past life and he has kept the craving at bay, but the moment he confronts the kid and wins, he feels the old rush return and he is in danger of relapsing. Lorenzo seems to slowly slip back into a stressed and angry environment, and the confrontation with Miller, then this kid, pushes him just a bit too far.
1. It all happened so quickly. Neither men would have expected the shadowy figure walking towards them in an old quiet alley to be the angel of death. Everyone heard the news of these deaths but no big reactions were seen. It was shown in the papers and even mentioned on the radio but people just saw it as more gang fighting and young men getting crazy over the drug game. Pelecano has set up a community where death and fighting is common. The more death is just more tragedy. Violence is embedded in this world and people either crave it or flee from it. At the end of the last chapter we see Lorenzo switch sides for a second and reveal his true colors. Many people in the game have this crave for violence in them and Rico is clearly one of them.
ReplyDelete2. The drug dealers in this book are very confident and cool so far in commanding their runners and handling problems. These drug dealers are obviously interested in the money but more importantly I believe they are addicted. Not to the drugs they sell but the thrill of the life they are living. Rico is a crazy but good example. He does things for the thrill of a fight. He loves fighting and gets lots of it in the drug game. The thought of death sets him on edge: "Melvin was the only friend he had in this life. Melvin was his father. Rico Miller heard the sound of his own teeth grinding." (134). Rico doesn't care at all for the money but only for his gang members and fighting other gang members. There is a unspoken pride that is very strong between members of the same gang. They create a disorganized family and stay true to each other. This is the other side of the game that is seen only from the inside.
3. I am not surprised at all. Through out the last few chapters we have seen the blood begin to boil at the hint of a challenge with Lorenzo. He is still very much in shape and has not lost his ferociousness from prison. During the fight with the man that rolls up in his fifty thousand dollar car he mentions his trip to the "cut". Lorenzo has a dark past that he has been hiding well but he is slowly slipping and the rising tension between Nigel and Deacon is not helping. He sees his past just across the street and is tempted to return. How much longer he will stay clean is up to his will power.
1) The murder seen was very blunt and unexpected, it reminded me of something out of Breaking Bad. It is written in the same emotionless tone that Pelecanos uses throughout this book, however the disturbing details of the shooting make it hard to avoid judgment. Where Pelecanos could have said “He shot him in the head and in the chest”, he described his missing bottom jaw and the dangling veins and vessels that are hanging out of his head. Just like the dogfighting scene, Pelecanos wants us to feel the power in violence. These men don’t die immediately, and there is no remorse. Rico kills methodically, almost like a surgeon. One minute, they are sitting in their car and the next they both lie dead on the pavement. This is a great example of the power that Pelecanos conveys through violence.
ReplyDelete2) Like Cam said, these men seek power. They are immersed in a culture where you’re either behind the gun or you’re in front of it. The most badass are the most successful and those who show weakness are left behind. Pelecanos is not glorifying these men, he is writing from their perspective and therefore must show the power that these men think they have. Every scene that involved a child so far has made the point that the children who live in these situations are victims. They are born into this, they don’t choose the life that they want to live.
3) I wasn’t surprised. I kind of enjoyed reading it because Lorenzo is letting go of the man he is pretending to be. We see when he talks to the men at the dogfight that he isn’t detached from the world of crime and drugs. He can still fight but makes the moral choice not to. However, Lorenzo is fed up. He spends his days cleaning up after dogs and dealing with idiots like the one that confronts him. He has been pushed to his edge. Lorenzo lets go and allows himself to return to his feisty young ways. Lorenzo is still powerful, it is a matter of his ability to discipline himself on his path to becoming “straight”.
1. I think that the book is not glorifying violence. Seeing this scene did not glorify violence for me in anyway. It just was disgusting. Rico's anger that just spews from him doesn't seem at all glorious and it really just made me sick how gruesome a description this was. Especially the descriptive detail of DeEric's jaw just made me shudder. I really found the close up of this violence to just make me sick instead of glorifying it at all. I was not really surprised that DeEric and Michael died, because as I was reading the book, I was wondering what their point really was in the book and it sort of felt as through Pelecanos was setting them up to be killed off early on.
ReplyDelete2. I also think that what really plays into the drug dealer is the idea of status. All of these guys that we've seen so far really seem to be into their image, especially with their cars. I mean, just look at Rico's BMW. That is a really nice car and even after he takes two people's lives he just "hit the power button on the radio. He found an Obie Trice he liked and turned it up." (154). This is just so far from being remorseful as you can get. He obviously doesn't care about the people he hurts, he even enjoys it as referenced so often during the course of the book. Also, throughout the last couple chapters, you can see all of the nice cars come into play with all the different dealers. I mean, Rico even lets his almost father drive his car and pretend that it is his, just for the sake of image. I've been shocked repeatedly by how much these people care about their outside image, while all the while they are not giving a damn about the people around them.
3.I'm not very surprised. He's had some trouble keeping himself calm so far as we've seen, and seeing him lash out like this seemed like a sort of catharsis for him. I'm not sure what this means from this point on, but I feel like Lorenzo is slowly losing grip from this point on, as some sort of a starting point. I have to say, I wasn't surprised by the fight that broke out, but I was pretty surprised by the key jab to the throat! That seemed like a little too violent for what seemed like a scuffle on the street, but as I thought about it, it's really Lorenzo's first waver in emotion that we see him let out.
1. I had a feeling that something would happen to Michael, because Lorenzo had said that Nigel’s pet projects “never did work out,” and I also think that Michael was our connection to the drug world represented in this novel. Just based on his attributes (intelligent, respectful, even kind), he was the most relatable character in the drug world, and I know at least for me I hoped he would make his to a good path. I felt like Michael was the only character I had any emotional investment in, and his death sparked more disdain and disappointment for the world represented here. I don’t think Pelecanos writing in this scene glorified violence; reading about a jaw being blown off was horrifying and did not make violence seem appealing at all.
ReplyDelete2. I think there’s some sort of security these men find in the business. Yes, you sign on for a life where you could be killed at any second, but the pros of the game outweigh the cons. You get to worry about problems like where to put your DVD screens in your car and which girls you should take advantage of. You get to have things like a “genuine football jersey that went for one hundred and seventy dollars” (181) and get to drive 50,000 dollar cars. Having these things gives them this life that they knew they were going to get. It’s completely expected I think, and their lives have been so unstable up to this point so this predictability is appealing to them. We’ve seen the relationships between the grunts and the higher ups, and there is an eerie father-son relationship. These individuals probably come from homes where their parents were absent, and I think they crave some sort of father figure that they find when they sign up for the “game.”
3. I was not surprised by Lorenzo’s violent outburst at the end of this section. Lorenzo was too deep into the “game” at one point in his life to not still have a hostile and violent side to him. While he is now living a “straight” lifestyle, he’s still the same person he was when he was a criminal, just reformed and on a better path then he was before. This violent, confrontational person has always been inside Lorenzo, and I knew at some point in the novel, he was going to lose a grip on the restraint he has been exhibiting. I don’t think this makes him a bad person at all, and I think the situation might have called for his actions.
1. My immediate reaction to their murders was sadness. In the beginning of the book, I saw DeEric as a dumb thug, but as his character developed, I found myself growing fond of him. I sympathized with both DeEric and Butler, which is what Pelecanos wanted. He wanted to show us that these men are like any others; they're just trying to get by with what they know. It was especially painful when Pelecanos shows us what Butler thinks about when he's high. He thinks about learning, about how much he missed school and how much his mother saddened him. Yes, the scene was shockingly graphic, but the most striking part about that scene was the emotional attachment readers have with the characters.
ReplyDelete2. A HUGE part of "the game" is the sense of family that comes with it. Yes, the money is there, but they still live in the same dumpy houses with the same sad neighbors. But the obvious lack of family and community draws kids in. The elders are older brothers and fathers that care for them. That sense of brotherhood is extremely powerful. Look at Lorenzo, he's still completely loyal to Nigel because of their history and respect they have for each other. For Rico, "Melvin was the only friend he had in this life. Melvin was his father"(134). Same thing with Butler, he hated to see his mother, and Green had become his older brother/father figure to help him through life.
3. I also was not surprised by Lorenzo's out lash. For one thing, I was cheering for him throughout this confrontation. I agree with Graham, the tension between gangs and Lorenzo's faithfulness to Nigel is a dangerous combination. I was more surprised at how Nigel was telling Lorenzo to stay out of things. That's when you know Lorenzo is capable of doing a lot a rash things. It'll be interesting to see what life Lorenzo clings to.
1. I thought it was really gruesome and it sad. I think that Michael was too smart and had so much to offer and really should never have been involved in the first place. It also made me even more terrified of Rico and he is incredibly twisted. He just seems like a total sociopath to me and he scares me. I don’t think the book is glorifying violence. Violence is a major part of this society and I think this society runs on a type of social Darwinism and only the strongest survive out there and the weaker ones get killed off and getting shot to pieces is how that happens.
ReplyDelete2. Like Graham said I think that they do create this dysfunctional family that can only really be seen and felt when you’re ‘on the inside’. I think that because they are rejected from their families and even as children they were rejected by their fathers, and in some cases mothers as well, it forced them to turn to the game and find leadership and someone to look up to there. I think they just want a father like figure to tell them how to sort themselves out but I think the issue in that is that people like Lee and Nigel and Deacon aren’t fatherly in the way that these ‘soldiers’ need them to be. They become trapped in this game and there is no way out for them except to go to prison and try to straighten themselves out and even then we see that that doesn’t always work. Again I don’t think that this book is glorifying the game exactly I think its just showing an in depth perspective of life in the game but it shows the ‘nicer’ parts of it like the money and cars but it also shows the danger, the lack of emotion, and all of the cons of the game too.
3. I was expecting him to break at some point but I never would have expected it like this. I think it was kind of nice to see him in this element where you can tell he feels natural and he feels his old self creeping in. And I’m not saying he should revert back to the man he was, but I think its interesting to see that he stabbed a guy in the eye with a file the size of a key and yet he wakes up every morning and has to deal with horrible people and suppress that natural energy in him to induce harm on someone else. I think it shows just how controlled Lorenzo has become and how difficult it must be for him to have to constantly keep himself in check.
1. I don't think that this book is glorifying violence, but I think it's making it seem as reality. And yes, violence is a reality of this world we live in, but to all of us, with where we come from and where we go to school, it's not a casual thing. It's not something we see or have been acquainted with. In this book, the murder of these young boys seems just a common as any other news. The fact that there's gang violence and people just shooting each other is everyday life here and that's something extremely scary. The clip above is really hard to watch. Watching the two kids gang up on the other one and seeing him cry as he realizes he's about to die just breaks my heart. It also really sickens me how easily they murdered him.
ReplyDelete2. I think the commentary is that sometimes this is the only option for people, or at least the only easy option. When you come from a place where you see dealers and gang members as your neighbors and friends, but you don't see your parents or teachers as powerful or respectable members of society, it seems that all there is to do is join in with your friends. It's a lot easier to go along with the norm of this particular society rather than try to break the cycle and be something more, especially when you have a huge factor such as money. Dealing brings them immediate success, whereas going to school and working your way up in a career is a lot harder and takes a lot more time. I'm not sure that the book is glorifying drug dealing, but it's definitely saying that this is a very easy and appealing option for these people.
3. I'm not surprised. I liked seeing that his life is still a struggle. He didn't come out of prison and suddenly be a changed man who forgot all of his old ways. As cheesy as this sounds, he's still going through his journey and learning how to not revert back to such an angry person.
1. I don't think this novel is glorifying violence at all, but rather showing the harsh realities of violence. I have obviously never experienced a gang fight or shooting, but this seems pretty accurate. The deaths are sudden and fast, their lives come to an ever so sudden halt and they are done. I thought the murders of DeEric and Michael were terrible. They hit me in the same way that the dog fights did. It was an uncomfortable section to read for me. What really upset me was Butler's death. I really liked Butler because he seemed like the one soldier who actually had a chance to get out or had a chance to teach the other soldiers valuable things. It really shocked me how heartless Nigel was about Butler's death because I always assumed Butler was one of Nigel's favorites from the way Nigel spoke about him. However when Graham asked Nigel if he wanted to bring flowers to Butler's mom as well as DeEric's, Nigel said, "Fuck that bitch" (176).
ReplyDelete2. The drug game is all about power. Even the concept of having a lot of money comes from an idea of power because one always wants to have more money than the other guy, to have a more successful business than Deacon's crew. These men are just like Rachel's alter ego who comes out at night. They all crave power and control and will do absolutely anything to get it. Even with Lorenzo, I think that some part of him wants to have power over Nigel and his gang. I noticed this when Lorenzo immediately called Nigel about the shooting: "He (Lorenzo) realized that he could have called the police with the information first thing. Instead he called Nigel" (161). There is a very obvious power play going on between Nigel and Lorenzo. I still don't think the book is necessarily glorifying the dealers or the "game," but is rather showing how the dealers themselves glorify what they do. They think that the "game" is their life and that it is all they live for.
3. I am not surprised about Lorenzo's actions at the end of chapter 17. I think pretty much everyone has realized that Lorenzo was going to break and fall back to his old ways in some way or another. I wouldn't be surprised by the fight if it was Mark, Lorenzo, Rachel, or any other character, because I feel like most people would get really angry with the way Leon was treating his dog and Lorenzo. However I agree with Molly in that the key jab and Lorenzo's remark, "Smart mouth boy like you came at me in the cut...I stuck him in the eye with a little old file. Wasn't no bigger than this key I got in my hand" (182). This is where I really realized that Lorenzo was, and maybe still is, a very cruel and violent man.
1. Reading the murder scene was very unpleasant. Rico is a terrifying character, definitely my least favorite in the book. Rico has no redeeming qualities, which presents an interesting contrast in the scene. Obviously, DeEric and Butler are not outstanding citizens. However, as I was reading this scene, I was thinking of them as total innocents. I don't think the book is glorifying violence at all. In my opinion, the main way that violence is glorified is by not including gruesome details. This book gives an accurate depiction of what murder is actually like, making it seem not appealing at all. Instead of wanting more action, I'm hoping that there won't be more violence.
ReplyDelete2. It seems like drug dealing is the only option for these young men. If they do anything else, they will be mocked. If they enter the game, they have immediate friends, and money. In some ways it is more of a neighborhood club than something illegal. I don't think the boys take it very seriously when they join. Butler could have done something else, and he even wanted too. But nobody would help Butler pick a new path: "Butler had many questions, but he didn't know where to go to find answers" (151). His mother even actively discouraged him from doing something with his life.
I actually find myself liking Nigel. I realize his flaws, but there is still something alluring about him. Other than Nigel though, I don't think the book glorifies drug dealing. We haven't seen anything positive happen for the dealers, and most of them aren't even truly enjoying their riches.
3. I wasn't surprised by Lorenzo at the end, but it certainly was a different him. Lorenzo took the incident further than it needed to go, but he was being provoked and threatened. This scene did not antagonize my view of Lorenzo. He snapped, but we always knew that he was capable of doing such things. Lorenzo takes his work seriously, and he was being blatantly disrespected. Again, he didn't need to take it as far as he did, but I'm not surprised he snapped.
1. I was completely surprised by this murder. I knew that someone was going to die, but I was taken of guard when these two guys were killed. We get to understand Michael Butler more to see him die. I hated to see these deaths, but I don't think that the book is glorifying gang violence. I think that it is showing the reality of gang violence. The game is all about getting high and buying expensive cars until someone gets killed. Pelecanos is forcing us to evaluate the men he presents to as fully rounded characters. Rico has only ever known Melvin as a father and he uses his admiration of Lee as a reason to kill two people. He only smiles when he is about to kill a person. Pelecanos wants us to delve deep into the idea of redemption and decide for ourselves if these men really deserve it.
ReplyDelete2. The drug culture surrounds every nook and cranny of the neighborhood. Little kids watch their parents do drugs, go to prison, get shot, or become living corpses, shells of their former selves, in front of their eyes. They grow up around the culture, "Outside, kids were plentiful, cracking on one another, riding bikes and making up games on the dirt-and-weed grounds. Mothers, mostly in their teens, stood around with one another, smoking, talking with men and young men who were not the fathers of their children" (176). These children watch Lorenzo almost key a man in the eye. Many children like these sit in the dark playing video games waiting for their mothers to be sent to jail again. The kids of the neighborhood are so used to the violence that is presented to them that it is easy to get into it. Gangs and drug dealing are the norm. Kids start getting involved in the game when they are around 14. Kids regularly guard for the police to prove themselves. Once they get in to the game they are in until death or jail time. I wouldn't say that Pelecanos is glorifying the game just as I wouldn't say that Pelecanos is glorifying violence. He is just writing about the realities of the game. If he was trying to glorify the game he wouldn't include Rachel or Lorenzo. It would just be about cars, drug money, and then it would be tied off with the big show down between gangs. We wouldn't be reading this book if it was only written to glorify the drug dealing culture. Pelecanos brings out gory details so that we can't pass anything off for something else. We have to take the characters for what they are and figure out our own opinions from the words he writes.
2. I wouldn't say that I was surprised, but it wasn't occurrence to overlook either. Lorenzo holds in all of this aggression and it comes out at this moment. He exercises and ignores his anger and this was his breaking point. Seeing that dog in horrible conditions set him off before he even saw the man. Lorenzo used his experience to his advantage and brings out all of his aggression onto this one guy. In some ways I think I would have had the desire to punch him for the way he treated that dog, but Lorenzo takes it too far. It doesn't take much for someone to get back into the drug game in his neighborhood and Lorenzo needs to be careful. He also has extra anger because of the deaths of Butler and Green. When he thinks he has an idea of the killer he calls Nigel instead of the police and thinks, "I'm a long way from straight" (161).
1. The scene was very matter of fact, much like the rest of the book. The detail of their fatal wounds made the violence of the act real and gruesome. The book is not glorifying violence in any way, shape, or form, and is really giving the horrors that violence brings with it. I expected Michael to die because he was the stereotypical “kind of innocent smart boy who took a wrong turn” in the story, but the way that the murders took place were absolutely meaningless. Rico killed them on a whim, and I find it horrifying that anybody would carry out such a powerful act with such little regard for the consequence, both to self and others, that the act may carry.
ReplyDelete2. The drug dealers crave a sense of power, even at the low level that they are at. People will naturally take the path of least resistance to get what they want. With drugs everywhere, and those drugs meaning money, it wouldn’t make any sense to not get “in the game”. But more than this, the gangs provide a sense of community that these young men have grown up not knowing, with Rico and Melvin regarding each other as “father” (134) and son (though not directly said), and Nigel and DeEric caring for Michael (whose mother is a “b****” (176)), these people are each other’s only family. The book says what may be appeals to the youth, but it definitely speaks out against the culture in its descriptions of mindless and disgusting violence everywhere.
3. I am not surprised that Lorenzo acted this way. He is the experienced, retired veteran with punks on the street thinking that they’re better than him. To be transferred from a position of power, prestige, and respect in Nigel’s gang to a dog handler cannot possibly be perfectly smooth. He’s controlled the blatantly violent side that he once was, but it still exists underneath, suppressed by the hope to live the “right” life.
I'm a little torn between two emotions pertaining to the murders. Part of me was definitely expecting this or something along these lines to happen, because "it's all in the game". When there is a dispute between different gangs and one side blatantly disrespects the other as Green does, something will be done in retaliation, you can be sure of that. Pride is way too much of a factor in this lifestyle to let another gang member walk all over you the way Green walks on Lee. No dispute or loose end is forgotten about or not dealt with in some way. Even Nigel, who loses two of his men and arguably two of his friends, isn't angry or thinking about retaliation because he knows that this is the way things work. But then obviously another part of me is extremely sickened by this scene. While it may be part of this game, this drug dealer's game, young lives are being waisted, some for extremely fickle reasons and others, like Butler, for no reason at all but simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's violent, it's gruesome, and it's an extremely corrupt system that no one in this community and world seems to be questioning. And in many ways it has a domino affect, and it will keep going back and forth between gangs without anything being solved between the two. I think that the book is not glorifying violence through this , but rather introducing violence in this world to us and, as Christine says, the realities of this violence. I think this book very much wants us to take a look at this system and notice the violence, but more importantly to notice the mindset towards this violence in this world. The book I think wants us to question the general and almost casual acceptance of this behavior in this society.
ReplyDeleteI think, as I mentioned above, that the true appeal of this lifestyle is very much connected to the idea of pride. Money is a huge factor, yes, but why do these characters want money anyways? So they can buy flashy things, so they can show off their success to anyone they can. They do not use their money to buy anything useful or anything they really get a great deal of joy out of, but to make themselves as well-known as possible. "Green couldn't decide between small DVD screens in the headrests or or one big screen in the dash. He had paid this woman good money to embroider every headrest in the truck." (99). They feel that this money gives them status, that it makes them important and meaningful in a world where success is very hard to come by. They come from a background where they are really looked at as nothing by the rest of the world and society, and they do not really receive respect and hence have never really had a reason to be prideful. This drug dealing life, it provides them with a reason to be prideful. They are making a name for themselves, moving up in just about the only way they possibly can, and this name and pride becomes so important to them that they will defend it with their lives.
I was not surprised by the Lorenzo we see in the last scene in the least. Since the beginning of this book, we have seen this character do as he's supposed to. We've seen him live a simple life, do the morally correct things. We've seen him show composure in trying situations. But also throughout the book, we can see through Lorenzo's thoughts that in these trying situations and in his life, his thoughts do not reflect his actions. He does a very good job of covering up these emotions inside him that are banging to be released, for example with the Veronica woman who he finds attractive or during his confrontation with Melvin, but it seemed inevitable to me that after some amount of time he would crack.
1. For some reason, I was expecting something like these to happen. Rico is a very unstable person and after the encounter between the four of them, some horrible was bound to happen. When gangs are present, a simple ‘misunderstanding’ will not go unanswered. I was a little taken back by the brutality of the assault, but not very surprise. I do not think Pelecanos is glorifying violence, but he is simply telling it like it is. The amount of detail he puts in the scene appears to be glorifying but to me it simply made it more real. The reality of these men’s surreal world is made clear here. They knew the stakes.
ReplyDelete2. I think that a great part of the ‘game’ in this book, as it is in most gangs, is about belonging and not being alone. Many of the ‘soldiers’ here come from dysfunctional families that teach them the values of the street. These men seek a family out of the other drug dealers. Men like Rico find a parental figure from the veterans of the game. However, some veterans like Joe and Lorenzo do not want their kids to “be fuck up because of” their mistakes. They are trying to break the cycle. This, however, is very hard to do.
3. As I mention to John before, there is another side of Lorenzo that keeps popping up from time to time. I was not very surprise by his action because, even though he has change his ways, he has the street mentality. Mark’s mention of his temper reminds me that the man that did not take crap from anyone is still in there. The fact that Lorenzo lives in the same place he used to live in before he went to jail, makes me think that maybe he wants to be back on this life. The end of the chapter confirms this. He tries to change his life but he cannot fight those tendencies for much longer. You can’t teach tricks to an old dog.
1. This is not very surprising at all. These people are playing a ruthless and merciless game. They were constantly at risk of being killed and chose to put themselves at risk everyday. While the scene was not easy to read because it was gruesome, I really liked the way Pelecanos did not stray from his normal style of writing and try to shield us from the choice, I think it was really important to see, in the most basic way, the consequences of playing this game. Therefore I do not think that Pelecanos is glorifying the game at all, I think he is doing to opposite, I think he is condemning the game. I think he is trying to show us how bad this game is and that while a lot of prosperity and status can come out of this game, the only way you are going to have those things is if you stay alive, and that is very hard in the game of drugs. So in know way do I thin that Pelecanos is glorifying violence because we have already seen the outcomes of a lot of these horrible and violent situations throughout the book, and he has never glorified violence.
ReplyDelete2. I do not think that the main priority for these guys is money. They have grown up without it, most of the time, so while it is important I do not think it is the most important thing. I think one of the biggest reasons for entering this world of gangs and drugs is to be a part of something. Like we talked about today in class, when we were saying many of these children grew up with grandparents or friends or in foster care, many have never felt like they belonged. They were all outsiders. But all of a sudden they have this opportunity to be something and be someone. They are not going to be alone and nobody. They are going to have a part in this world and people will notice if they are gone, and people will at least pretend to care about them even if it is only monetarily. One of the biggest themes of the book for me so far is this idea of community, and what community everyone is apart of. Whether it is Nigel and his drug dealers, or Rachel and her Parolees, everyone fits somewhere with people who know them, agan even if only superficially, so this idea of being apart of something larger than yourself is very important to someones identity and security. One of the quotes that seemed to go along with this was on page 161, "He realized that he could have called the police with the information first thing. Instead he called Nigel" and he is Lorenzo, but this idea that he still wants this group that he still wants to have pull and power and a feeling of usefulness that comes with being apart of this game. Once again I do not think it is glorifying the game of the drug dealers because we can see right through their fancy cars, stuck up attitudes, and horrible judgement to their insecurities and powerlessness. This does not in any way make me want to go be a drug dealer, or be in a gang, in fact it makes me want to reconsider choices I have made to fit in, and to be apart of some communities in the past. There is not glory in being insecure and feeling useless, however there is glory in being confident enough to pass by those temptations and, in this case stay on the straight and narrow.
3. No I am not surprised. I am quite happy actually. I really wanted to find fault beyond little things with Lorenzo. I wanted him to have trouble to show human qualities, not just robotic feelings. I wanted him to bot come straight out of prison and be okay. I wanted him to be normal and do something that would show us that he really is struggling and wants to stay clean both drug wise and in the game, but at the same time he still craves that power and longs for that community and usefulness. I am glad that we are seeing a new side to Lorenzo and I am excited to see him and his struggle more.
1. After what we've heard about Rico Miller I find it hard to be surprised that things ended up that way. The shocking aspect for me was the efficiency and the thorough way in which Rico carried out the murder. He wore gloves in order to prevent any fingerprints that may be left behind, made sure there were no witnesses, and even picked up his shell casings when all was done. If it weren't for Lorenzo's ability to put two and two together I have a feeling Rico would never have been found out. No I don't think this book is glorifying murder and violence, and there are many reasons to say that. It is clear from our background knowledge of Rico that Pelecanos has made obvious that something is very wrong with Rico, and that this same issue with Rico is a cause of his violent nature. Were it Lorenzo Brown, who at this point is the protagonist of this novel, who was shooting down men in the street there may be some truth to the books glorification of violence, but as it stands that is clearly not Pelecanos's intent.
ReplyDelete2. It may have been said many times before, but this game is all that the kids who grow up on the street know. As children many of the kids living on these streets grow up helping these same drug dealers do their work. Earlier in the book Pelecanos writes, "Lee saw a boy, couldn't have been more than eight or nine, standing around the vehicles, a neighborhood kid, most likely, paid by someone to keep an eye out for the law." Even from ages eight or nine these kids are already accustomed to the behavior of the drug dealers, and have learned to watch out for the cops. Many of the kids never had fathers, and many were neglected. Everything about their situation sets them up in such a way that they have no faith in the system and instead just follow what they've learned during their childhoods and join gangs. No this book isn't glorifying drug dealing. It is made quite clear that whether or not it is condemning drug dealing, Pelecanos is in no way advocating the lifestyle.
3. I am not surprised whatsoever. At times in the book so far we have seen his temper flare at less, the only difference is that he controlled his anger better in the previous scenes. It's not as if Lorenzo underwent a complete transformation in jail. He is still the man he was before, albeit slightly more productive.
1. I don't believe that the book is glorifying the violence associated with gang clashes at all. Pelecanos even goes out of his way, I think, to make sure that the scene is portrayed in a totally neutral way. He doesn't exalt the killing of Michael and DeEric, just as he doesn't exalt the experiences of dogfighting; both scenes are equally gruesome. I can't believe that Pelecanos would want to glorify violence by describing in detail the way that DeEric's jaw was shot clean off of his face.
ReplyDelete2. Part of the reason why the gangs are so prominent in life in this part of town is it provides a necessary form of social interaction. There is a reason why organizations hold weekly meetings for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts- the gangs operate in somewhat of a similar manner, affording an opportunity to interact with the rest of the community (though not always in a good way). When jobs are scarce, as we see frequently, running with the gangs is a sure, albeit dangerous, way of obtaining money. "You can't help who you are, can you, boy?" (158) says Lorenzo to Lincoln, the aggresive pit bull. I feel that perhaps this describes the attitudes of so many young men in Lorenzo's neighborhood that have turned to the gangs.
3. The thing that concerns me most about Lorenzo at the end of the reading is the fact that he enjoyed beating Skiles up, he felt new agai,"n, like he was back hustling with the gang. I think Lorenzo does an excellent job of holding his own with the assailant, but there is a point where it becomes worrisome.
Blasting off someone's face is horrifying. I assume its meant to shock, and it definitely does the trick. In a way I fell like Pelecanos must enjoy this kind of sick violence as much as Rico Miller. It doesn't seem to condemn the lifestyle, but it definitely reveals the harshness of it. When Butler, one of the only likable soldiers doesn't have a better chance than the guy next to him, it starts to turn into a video game. Whether or not it actually glorifies is I can't say. I'm just disgusted.
ReplyDeleteThe drug dealer lifestyle is almost depicted as an elite country club for violent, over sensitive, macho dudes who don't know any better. There is no escape. Kids are born and raised in this environment, where they see that the folks that show the least mercy and are the quickest to pull the trgger are the ones who last. Even Butler, who "dreamed of traveling to places he'd never been before and seeing things he'd only read about in books", doesn't get a free pass. It's definitely depicted as a force that gives you no options. A lot of the people that are in it, have been in it for a good while, probably since they were wee lads. In this general demographic, a lot of the kids have les than ideal family situations and they seem to look towards the successful men driving big cars for advice. To them, its living the life. The gangs are a form of safety, they dont want to be laughed at like Lorenzo, they want to be looked up to like Deacon.
You can't take the fire out of a man. Even despite his attempts to stay cool and keep with steady life apart from the gangs its still obviously a little tense when Lorenzo is really faced with conflict. The little temper just shows how hard he really does have to work to stay out of his old life, but in a way it seems like he doesnt miss it. It's just engrained in him.
1) I don’t think this scene glorifies violence at all, I think the sad truth of the reality is that these kind of murders do happen quite often. As a sheltered person, I like to think it happens far away from me but I get the sense that it happens anywhere. I was pretty sad about the murder but it wasn’t surprising. I knew it was coming because a thriller like this with characters like Rico who are always on the edge is bound to have a major peak. It’s pretty sick how Rico puts so much energy into hurting others and also gets pleasure from it too. Of course they both had it coming because they’re always at risk, but that never stops me from feeling sympathetic
ReplyDelete2) I agree somewhat with what Rachel was thinking earlier in the book when she thought that some people are better off in jail like Nardine. Some people might be better off as part of the drug dealing game because it provides them some sense of security. If I were in any of these characters situations I know it’d always be hard to do that right thing and getting into drugs, in their mind, is an immediate and great escape. I don’t know what else I do in a world where faith and God isn’t really mentioned, but I know it wouldn’t be good. There is just so much lack of authentic love and caring that belonging to a gang may be the only way they feel accepted.
3) I wasn’t all that surprised but in some ways disappointed in Lorenzo. I mean I have to acknowledge how well he’s been doing for example when Melvin was talking to him back at the dogfight and he had thoughts but didn’t let them out. Lorenzo in in a constant struggle to do what many around him can’t which is the right thing. He tries to stay out of trouble, mediate between people and their pets, and strives to be successful. Of course it would make sense for him to see that people are not responding and of course it makes sense to see an abused dog, but he went somewhat too far. I partially don’t blame him because he’s been bubbling up inside this whole time so it had to come out at some point, but violence is never the answer.
I was upset that Butler was killed too. I liked him and his thoughts about astronauts…this is exactly what Joe and Lorenzo were discussing. These kids don’t really know what they’re truly dealing with until it’s too late and they end up either in jail or dead. Some, like DeEric know what they’re dealing with, or say they do, and chose to accept it, but seem to get so caught up in this business (when DeEric confronts Lee) that they forget what the consequences of a normally small confrontation like that may be. I do not think the book is glorifying violence, I think the killing scene is described very well. Contrary to glorifying it, it seems that Pelecanos is showing us just how ignorance can so easily lead to violence like this or dog fights, like the one described a few chapters ago. Pelecanos tells us that Rico is a very vulnerable character who has never known love and would never open up to any one….his father figure is Lee…that’s pretty sad. People like Rico easily fall back on violence as a means of letting out all the weird feelings they have bottled up inside.
ReplyDeleteMany of the kids we see in “the game” have little to no family connections. Somehow they figure out that they feel more supported, and paid attention to by other gang members than by their own mothers or family, “One time, he told his mother he’d like to go in space. ‘So now you gonna be an atro-not, ‘she said. ‘can’t even spell it, boy.’” (151) The reason Butler gets killed is because he decides to stay with DeEric instead of going home because he hopes to avoid having to see his mom “blowing some stranger.” Some kids instead, like Rico, don’t even have any family members to speak of.
I think Lorenzo is having a really tough time keeping his head out of Nigel’s business. As much as Lorenzo wants to be done with “the game” he and Lorenzo ran together for 25 years, and whether it was good or not it was a large portion of his life. Lorenzo still cares about Nigel and has remained a loyal friend; if he can he will help, without trying to get too involved. After his encounter with Nigel, I’m not that surprised by Lorenzo’s actions, because we saw how easy it was for them to act almost as if things were back to how they use to be, with the handshakes and the same old sayings.
1. Well, at first, I expected Miller to follows Lee’s reasoning, that Lee was weak. I thought that Miller was going to kill lee for his weakness, but in actuality, he kills Green and Butler. These were two very shocking deaths, partially because Green tried to save Butler, and because the heartless way Butler was killed. But, I don’t think that this book is glorifying violence. While it is a book full of testosterone, I think that this book is merely portraying the reality of gang violence.
ReplyDelete2. Drug culture, especially in this book is very bad. Not just because of the drugs, but because the way the whole neighborhood revolves around them. "Outside, kids were plentiful, cracking on one another, riding bikes and making up games on the dirt-and-weed grounds. Mothers, mostly in their teens, stood around with one another, smoking, talking with men and young men who were not the fathers of their children" (176). These kids are surrounded by drugs, constantly acknowledging their presence. Most of these kids’ moms have probably gone to jail, and will be going to jail again. Soon, these kids turn to drugs, and the cycle of despair and violence starts again, with nobody to tell these kids that it’s wrong.
3. I think I kind of saw this coming. Lorenzo, as much as we see him wanting to lead a clean life, still kind of misses his old one. When he talks to Nigel and such, he kind of, rationalizes it to himself. And this fight stirred those old feelings and made him want to get high. It is hard to transition from one life to a completely different one, even if you know the risks.
1. The death of DeEric and Butler really shocked me. The book is just so graphic about their murders especially when DeEric's face and jaw is blasted off. It reminded me of the dog fight actually, in the same way that the dog's eye was hanging out, DeEric's white jaw was supposed to shock the reader. I don't think the book glorifies gang violence at all, like I said before it shows the scene in the exact same bystander way as the dog fight. The book doesn't try and justify the scene at all, it just thrusts it into your face and says "here have a good look, this is what its like in this city."
ReplyDelete2. The book definitely glorifies the drug dealers in this city. The book makes it seem like this easy job that anybody can do and get paid for. Drug dealing is so enticing, that almost every young boy wants to be a part of it. Also being a drug dealer is like automatic admission to one of the two most powerful gangs in the city. This is also important because the gangs represent a social community as well as a major power. Being part of the gang means that they have your back, that they'll avenge anything done to you. That's the expectation anyways, its not what actually happens. But aside from all of that, the young boys think that drug dealing is the best job option.
3. Well it surprised me, but it also didn't surprise me. If I had read both Lorenzo's chapter and Rachel's chapter in the same night, it would have shocked me but because I had read Rachel's the night before and we had time to discuss it in class, I was kind of expecting it anyways. I'm also feeling really disappointed because I really expected Lorenzo to do better. This whole time I've been defending and rooting for Lorenzo, and this chapter was really disappointing to me.
1) I was definitely expecting violence at some point, especially violence involving Rico, but that was much more graphic than I had expected at first. I definitely felt a connection to the two that had died, but I also feel a connection to Rico, something I was not expecting to develop. I totally understand why he did what he did and I don't feel especially mad at him, I just feel bad for him.
ReplyDelete2) I think that gaining respect is the other factor in becoming a dealer. Not only do you become rich if you become, but you gain a lot of respect from the others in the community. You get connections, you get respect, and you get power.
3) I was not too surprised. As we have seen from almost everyone in the book, everyone has a bad side and it is very hard to leave the game once you've started. Lorenzo may not want to feel and do these things, but he loves to, much like Sarge.
1.
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning of the book, I had expected some sort of violence related to the drug trade to eventually show up. What was surprising about this violence was the sheer brutality and enjoyment gained from it by Rico. If anything, it is condemning such violence by showing the brutality of the killings, and the murder of such a young, promising boy. This violence is a part of the environment these people have grown up in. It must be shown to give the reader a realistic picture of the society of the drug trade.
2
I believe that the commentary on the drug trade is that it’s nasty, violent, and extremely easy to be caught up in, and even harder to extricate yourself from. A major factor from the drug trade is the power these young men receive, such as Nigel. Nigel controls those under him, feeling almost paternally about Michael. These young men were born into an environment they couldn’t control, a fight for survival, if you will. As Michael says to DeEric, in amazement, "You punked him" (125). DeEric gained power of Melvin. These kind of people are drawn to power after felling so helpless when they were young.
3
I think that the Lorenzo that we see at the end of the chapter is necessary, to give the reader an idea of the man he was before prison. I am not surprised by the Lorenzo revealed in these chapters, and shows that Rico Miller is not the only man that enjoys the adrenaline high of confrontation. Lorenzo’s reaction explains why he remained in the drug trade for so long, and gained the notoriety he had previously.
I don’t think the book glorifies violence. Instead it gives graphic descriptions because Pelecanos wants us to realize this gruesome reality. He wants us to be disturbed and aware. The deaths were shocking but when I think about it I saw something like this coming. I also think poor Rico might end up dead somehow and since he has no one he will be forgotten. I think this book is commenting that this culture is a result of the lack of attention and good raising of these children and others who live in this place. I think Pelecanos wants us to see that everyone is missing something in their lives and they turn to the “easy” way out. They use this culture to prove their masculinity and they use the gangs as a sort of family substitute. They have no real family structure at home. So far we have not seen a father figure in any of these young children’s homes. They are also wasting a good time inside when they could be outside being productive. So these boys when they grow up have no one to lead them away from the “popular and cool” thing to do which is get money. And I think Ben Dollar is right when he mentions the need social interaction. This is the only distraction around the town. There are no sports or facilities where they can go instead. Honestly I am not surprised. Lorenzo has been very good at keeping his cool but eventually in this chaotic environment he would lose his cool as much as he tries not too. As much as he may change this past part of his life will always be a part of him. Especially since he stays around, if he would leave then he would be able to fully leave it behind.
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