Run Baby Run, by Nicky Cruz
Run Baby Run is the autobiography of an inspiring Christian, Nicky Cruz, who wasn't always serving the Lord. Nicky grew up in Puerto Rico, where his mother and father were spiritualists. His childhood was hard and lonely and he was convinced no one loved him. Nicky felt alone in the world at a young age and this made a deep hatred begin to grow inside him.
By the time Nicky was 16 his parents could no longer handle him and sent him to live with his brother, Frank, in New York City. When Nicky arrived in New York, he was scared and even lonelier. Speaking limited English, Nicky found his way to his brother's house and stayed there for awhile. Before long, Nicky got into trouble at school and left his brother's house. Nicky was living along on the streets. He soon became active in the gangs and eventually was the most feared gang leader in all of New York.
When things were beginning to seem hopeless for Nicky, a skinny little preacher named David Wilkerson confronted Nicky's gang. David told Nicky that Jesus loved him, No one had ever said that to Nicky before, and it deeply effected him. Nicky decided to live his life for Jesus and leave his gang life.
The next year, Nicky left for California and enrolled in a Bible school. While there, he met a lovely woman named Gloria whom he later married. After finishing his Bible schooling, he started Teen Challenge back where he grew up in Brooklyn. He brought many gang members, drug-dealers and homosexuals off the streets and to Christ. He turned his life around and lived strongly for the Lord.
Love was a major godly principle that deeply effected the characters in Run Baby Run. Nicky Cruz felt like he needed love his whole life. Finally, the love of God was shown to him through David Wilkerson and it changed his life. Nicky was able to pass that love on to others and it effected so many hardened hearts. If this glimmer of love had never entered the life of Nicky, he would never have transformed into such a man of God. Nicky would never have brought so many others to Christ if not for the Love of God.
Another Godly principle that was at work in this story is faith.
Now that we all have this knowledge and have a language to deal with it visually, it’s the time to start dealing with some of the more playful things. We’ve accepted privilege, we’re conscious of all these major issues that the generation before us laid down. — Rashid Johnson
Miguel Castaneda is the narrator and main character of the story “We Were Here”. Miguel is a young teenager from Stockton, California. He is dark complected because of his Mexican background but he does not have the personality to do the work like that of his Mexican relatives. I know this because in the story it says, “Told us we might be dark on the outside, but inside we were like a couple blonde boys from Hollywood.” He is very different from the rest of his family in terms of being able to handle situations that are put in front of him and completing the task at hand.
During the summer of 1984, Calvin Johnson trudges knee deep through a swamp in the wetlands of South Georgia. As snakes brush past his legs, he marches in line with nine other men, each dressed in an orange jumpsuit, swinging a razor sharp bush axe in collective rhythm. His crew entered the swamp at dawn and they will not leave until dusk. Guards, armed with shotguns, and equally violent tempers, ignore the fact that the temperature has risen well above 100 degrees and push the men even harder. Suddenly, an orange blur falls to the ground and a prisoner from Wayne Correctional Institution lies face down in the swampy floor. As guards bark orders at the unconscious, dying man, Johnson realizes "the truth of the situation, and the force of injustice just incapacitates" him. It is then he decides he does not belong in the swamp.
All towns, cities, and areas have their own specific traits. Small towns tend to be more like a family, while big cities tend to be more passive. Then there are the small areas where people do not make much money and struggle to get by. These areas tend to be more violent and more influenced by drugs and alcohol. This is the area that Andre Dubus III grew up in, in his memoir Townie. His parents were divorced and neither of them made much money so he and his two sisters and brother ended up moving from one small crummy neighborhood to another. In these neighborhoods he would get involved in the wrong crowds and end up doing drugs, drinking, and fighting. This became a way to show power. The most powerful people were strong and always came out on top in fights, had all the drugs and alcohol, and therefore all the power. This drove many people to fight so that they could move up this chain of command. No one wanted to be the bottom because that was the position of the most abused people of the neighborhood. This need and fear is what drove Andre to fight and the understanding of this fear is what drove him away from fighting.
As a child, when it is time for him to join the children at the front of the church, would not think about twice about pretending to find Jesus in order to relieve the focus quickly narrowing down to only him. As the last child left young Hughes, he whispered, “God damn! I’m tired o’ sitting here. Let’s get up and be saved.” (Hughes, 111), which leaves Hughes kneeling before the entire church.
As much as generous and honest Nick Carraway is, he still needs a few important improvements in himself. Nick went to Yale, fought in world war one and moved to East of New York to work in finance. After moving to New York, Nick faces tough dilemmas throughout the story such as revealing secrets, and witnessing betrayal. His innocence and malevolence toward others was beyond his control. He did not have the ability or knowledge to know what he should have done in the spots he was set in. He seemed lost and having no control of what went on- almost trapped- but indeed, he had more control than he could have ever known. Because of the situations he has experienced and the people he has met, such as Gatsby, Tom, Jordan and Daisy, his point of view on the world changed dramatically which is very depressing. Trusting the others and caring for them greatly has put him in a disheartening gloomy position.
What do we learn about life in the 18th century and how successfully does the writer convey this information whilst telling us a good story?
The fundamental characteristic of magical realism is its duality, which enables the reader to experience both the character’s past and the present. In the novel, Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson uses this literary device to address the the trauma and mistreatment of the Haisla community in Canada by unveiling the intimate memories of the protagonist, Lisamarie, and the resulting consequences of this oppression. Monkey Beach illustrates how abuse in the past leads to another form of self-medication in the future - a neverending, vicious cycle for the members of the Haisla community. Many characters in Monkey Beach are scarred from childhood sexual abuse and family neglect, and resort to drug and alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism. These appalling memories are an account of the impact of colonization on the Haisla territory which continues to haunt the Aboriginal community throughout generations.
Suga Boom Boom (Chasing Dragons) was written and sung by D. L. Downer a.k.a. James Williams and his 16-year-old niece Laleazy. It is a rap and hip-hop song that was released on October 26, 2014. It was produced as a single by MajorEpic music label and is two minutes and fifty-five seconds long. This song is a metaphor for James Williams’ life and it is about a man who was working and living his life like everyone else when he was led to try heroin for the first time. This caused him to lose his job because he was not going to work. One day when he was going through severe withdrawals, he decided to attack and rob a man, even though he was in clear view of the cops because he wanted more heroin. Suga Boom Boom is like a metaphor for James Williams’
The older brother, the narrator, finds himself struggling at the beginning of the story. While riding the subway, he reads in the paper that Sonny has been arrested for possession of drugs. During his day of teaching, he reflects on prior years with Sonny and their past adventures as young boys. He remembers Sonny's "wonderfully direct brown eyes, and great gentleness and privacy." The narrator sees his brother as a good boy, not "hard or evil or disrespectful." He wonders how many of his algebra students are similar to Sonny in appearance and personality along with his drug habits. This comparison allows the older brother to conclude that Sonny was probably not arrested on his initial use of drugs. It also allows the narrator is see that Sonny may be like most of the other young boys in Harlem.
Nick graduated from New Haven in 1905, he participated in the great war. Jay decided to go east and learn the bond business. He then rented a home in New York, he was lonely then one day helped a man find West Egg Village. Nick lived near Mr. Gatsby 's mansion, he then drove out to have dinner with Tom Buchanan, and Daisy in Chicago. Nick then spent time with Daisy, Tom, and Miss Baker. Daisy talked to Nick about the
he had nothing to do after school. Both he and G-Ball joined a gang by choice.
The book starts off with the narrator Nick Carraway. He is from Minnesota and in 1992 he moves to NYC in the summer. He starts by giving us advices that his father told him about not to make fun of people what so ever. Daisy Buchanan is Nick’s cousin; she is married to Tom Buchanan. Jordan Baker is Daisy’s close friend. Daisy Baker falls in love with Nick, and he loves her back. He goes to NYC to study about the bond business.
Nick finds out a few days after his move that an adored man by the name of Jay Gatsby lives next door to him. He hears about the parties that he throws and such from a friend of his cousin Daisy. He meets Daisy Buchanon, her husband Tom Buchanon, and friend Jordan Baker, at their house in East Egg. This is when everything begins to unravel. Nick is then invited to Gatsby 's party and attends it. After the party it is very apparent that Nick is intrigued in Gatsby. He even watches the party unwind, "There was music from my neighbor 's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and he champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his motor-boats slid the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before." (3.1) Nick eventually meets up
A person's ability to develop is due to two factors, maturation and learning. Although maturation, or the biological development of genes, is important, it is the learning - the process through which we develop through our experiences, which make us who we are (Shaffer, 8). In pre-modern times, a child was not treated like they are today. The child was dressed like and worked along side adults, in hope that they would become them, yet more modern times the child's need to play and be treated differently than adults has become recognized. Along with these notions of pre-modern children and their developmental skills came the ideas of original sin and innate purity. These philosophical ideas about children were the views that children were either born "good" or "bad" and that these were the basis for what would come of their life.