Theme 1: Life Choices
1) "A year after completing the Job Corps training, Wes realized the only consistency in his employment was inconsistency. That, and the fact that none of these jobs paid over nine dollars an hour." (144)
- Many people, particularly in America, would like to think that if you work hard and strive to do better at all times, then you will prosper and be successful. Wes 2, despite the fact that he had a criminal record and no high school diploma, went into Job Corps training in the hopes for finding a profitable, stable job other than selling drugs. Even though Wes spent nine months in Job Corps, working hard and learning how to build, he still couldn't find a job that would cover his expenses and support his family. Who is to blame in this situation? The boy who came from poverty in Baltimore that was introduced to drugs in his pre-teens? Wes 2 is mostly to blame for his actions and the fact that he is in jail today, but it's not fair to say that Wes did not try to make a new life for himself and his family. Even though there are opportunities to change ones life for the better, and stay away from illegal business, these opportunities don't necessarily change peoples lives for the better. Instead they negatively affect people's lives and cause them to return to the illegal and more profitable way of life, such as selling drugs.
2) "As the baking soda swirled in the rapidly heating pot, Wes held the plastic bag with both hands and poured in nine ounces of cocaine." (145)
- Despite his attempt at finding a better life, Wes opted for the job that would pay him the most money. In communities, like the one where Wes grew up, that are ridden with crime and drugs, the only clear and straight forward job to do is to sell drugs. Drugs have a high price on them, and a high toll, and so the sellers are guaranteed a stable income if they are loyal to the business. It's difficult for a person to walk away from the drug business for a job that pays minimum wage with the only satisfaction of the job being ethical. A person who was committed to a business such as this for most of their life can't get up and walk away and expect an easy transition. Even if a person makes a conscious choice to change and be better, that one choice has very little value if all the other choices that he/she made, benefitted them in a negative way.
Theme 2: Role Models
3) "As I started to think seriously about how I could become the person I wanted to be, I looked around at some of the people who had the biggest impact on my life." (132)
- In order to figure out what people want to do with their lives, the common response is to observe the people who affect their life in some way. This could mean admiring a family friend who is always seen reading the news paper and keeping up with the changing times, or admiring a professor who shows no mercy but also desires his/her students to learn and experience life. This could also mean, observing the family member who always asks to borrow money from others. Whether a person in your life has a negative or a positive effect on you, it's important to take note of how their actions made you feel because this can better help you figure out what kind of person you want to be.
Theme 3: Drugs
4) "The sight of her coming off of her high, stumbling to the bathroom, disgusted Wes... The people who would line around the corner for drugs... He knew these people because he was the one who got them what they needed. It was his job." (138)
- Wes 2 knew the dangers of drugs but he was now starting to feel the guilt of selling them once he saw that his children's mother was addicted to heroin. Many times it takes an actual experience, not just warnings, to understand the dangers of drugs. People like Wes were getting payed for selling drugs and couldn't be bothered with the correlation of drugs and bad neighborhoods. The buying and selling of drugs not only hurts the people taking and getting high off the drug, but it also hurts the people who sell the drugs. They are hurt because they are left with the choice of getting payed well for a job that they know best or facing unemployment or minimum wage for jobs that they aren't equipped for.
5) "Wes had to reconsider what it meant to be a father. He wanted to protect his young daughter, shelter her... Without a thought about what he was taking on, he announced that he wanted to build her a house." (142)
- Similar to what Joy and Tony Moore did to Wes when he was a young boy, Wes felt the need to protect his daughter from the drug and crime ridden streets of Baltimore. Although a small wooden house would not fully shield Wes's daughter from danger, it would at least comfort Wes and offer him a peaceful state of mind. This protection from the streets is thoughtful but also hopeless keeping in consideration the percentage of people who go into the drug ring and never come out. In order for a person to do well in school and not get involved in illegal business it takes self will, not just warnings and wooden houses that offer protection, to make that goal a reality.
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