Brent Staples My Brother's Murder

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Living in fear and trying to survive to be last man standing is a way of living in many cities around the country. In a world where men have to wear their manhood on their sleeves and solving their problem with violence, lives are not as meaningful. In “My brother’s murder” the author Brent Staples narrates the story of how his brother Blake choses to be part of this violence to survive in a dangerous neighborhood in which they were both raised. These decisions leaded to his early death at only 22 years old. Blake could of leave the toxic environment, chose a different lifestyle, or accept his brother help when he offered. All the differences decisions he could of take instead of following the violence path could have save his life, making him responsible for his own death
Blake and Brent Staples were raised in the same angry, heavily poor city where violence and deaths were an everyday routine. Staples explain this by saying “I was introduced to mortality, not by the old and failing, but by beautiful young …show more content…

The author explains how he felt about this following quote “Incursions to be punished by death were many and minor, and they remain so: they include stepping on the wrong toe, literally; cheating in a drug deal; simply by saying “I dare you” to someone holding a gun; crossing territorial lines in a gang dispute” (Staples 202). This quote expresses an excellent example of the lifestyle Blake chose and was living, he was daring his life just to show how much of a man he was. He could of follow his big brother steps and get away from that tragic and empty lifestyle that surrounded him. Brent moved to another state and met new people and became so unfamiliar to his old home, he was realty scared for his brother. Blake could of just follow his brother steps and became an active, good man of

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