Chapter 4: Marking Territory-Theme Analysis

The themes in this chapter are drugs, life choices, importance of education, and role models.

Drugs:

"Tony had now spent over a decade dealing drugs and knew how much money could be made in the game." (Page 70)
         Tony spent much of his childhood dealing drugs, and he was very knowledgeable about it.  The fact that he knows so much about the drug dealing game demonstrates how common drugs were in the neighborhood.  His longevity in the drug game shows how prominent drugs were for a long time, and that problem wouldn't be solved anytime soon.



Life Choices/ Importance of Education:

"Wes left the house and began to walk toward his girlfriend's place a few blocks over… Wes complained to her about his mother's abuse of his privacy." (Page 74)

     Wes chose to interpret his mom finding his drugs as a lack of privacy.  He did not think it was possible that it was a way of getting him to change.  His mom wanted him to take a look at himself and change the path he was going down.  She thought that getting rid of the drugs would motivate him to do that, but it didn't.  Wes chose to keep dealing drugs instead of listening to his mother's warning, which contributed to him going down the wrong path.  If he had stopped, his story might have been similar to the author Wes's story.

"The problem was that I wasn't showing up half the time.  It's tough to do well in school as an eleven-year-old when your picking and choosing which days to go." (Page 76)

     Here, the author Wes often skipped school and went back to the neighborhood when he was 11.  This choice shows that he didn't value school as particularly important, which almost sent him down the wrong path.  A lack of education and a life on the streets are often related, and the fact that he rarely showed up at school meant that he was very close to being a victim of the streets.

Role Models:

"Some days I would check into homeroom; other days I'd head directly back to the train and return to the neighborhood…My sister, always the loyal accomplice, never snitched." (Page 77)

      The author Wes's sister, Shani, looked up to her brother, even though he was being a bad influence on her.  Wes would decide each day whether or not he would go to school.  If he didn't check into homeroom, Shani did not tell their mother or their grandparents.  The fact that Shani didn't tell the family shows that she looked up to her brother no matter what he did.

"A few months earlier, Shani went out to play with one of the neighborhood girls, Lateshia, and came back home with her face covered in blood." (Page 77)

     This quote is similar to the one above.  Wes got involved in conflicts a lot as a kid, and was sometimes bloodied.  Shani was jumping rope with several neighborhood kids, and a conflict broke out.   She was on the receiving end of a punch to the face. This is very similar to Wes's experience.  The presence of blood was so familiar in the household that she ended up getting bloodied as well.  Since Wes was a role model to her, she got herself into situations where there was violence, just like Wes did.