Fatherhood In Boyz N The Hood

Set in South Central Los Angeles, Boyz N The Hood (John Singleton, 1991) portrays the struggles, fears, and choices of three young friends growing up in the midst of the Crenshaw neighborhood known as ‘the hood.’ Through a seven–year time gap from 1984 to 1991, the film suggests and addresses two prominent social problems associated with Crenshaw’s environment – fatherless children and gang culture. Ultimately, Boyz N The Hood is about the utter significance and salvation of fatherhood among the lives of young, vulnerable, and violence susceptible children of Crenshaw and how the presence of a true father figure can influence their decision to either succumb to the cycle of violence, alcohol and crime or to strive for something greater than their roots.

After several altercations at school cause single mother and student Reeva Styles (Angela Bassett) to worry about the future of her son Tre (Desi Arnez Hines II), she sends young Tre to live with his father Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne) – a knowledgeable, firm but fair Army veteran – from whom she hopes he will learn valuable life lessons and what it takes to be a man: something she cannot teach Tre herself.

Upon the immediate arrival of his son, Furious instructs Tre to rake all of the leaves from the front yard and later that night reminds him of the house rules which consist of more chores. Tre questions his father’s methods, but Furious emphasizes how Tre will learn responsibility through chores: something his friends will never acquire in the absence of a father. While father/son bonding, Furious begins to instill lifelong lessons in his son: he makes Tre recite the rules of being a leader and later concludes his advice by stating that a black man has no place in the Army. Upon their return to Crenshaw, Tre’s friend Darren, “Doughboy” (Baha Jackson), is seen in handcuffs, arrested for

stealing.
The film jumps forward seven years to a cookout celebrating the release of Doughboy (Ice Cube) (now a gang member) from prison. Ricky (Morris Chestnut) – Doughboy’s brother and Tre’s most trusted friend – is a father to a newborn son and candidate for a football scholarship from the University of Southern California. During one night of local street racing, a member of a rival gang provokes Ricky only to be seemingly scared off by Doughboy. The next day while walking back from the grocery store (in which he was sent to get milk for his son) the gang members from the street race find Ricky, shoot, and kill him. In an attempt to avenge the murder of his best friend, Tre agrees to help Doughboy find Ricky’s murderers: only to later ask to be let out of the car in realization that Furious was right that a decision as such would allow Tre to fall into the cycle of violence. Doughboy finally comes across the gang who murdered his brother and without hesitation nor regret willingly executes all members. The next day, in acceptance with his retaliation soon to come, Doughboy visits Tre to sorrowfully explain that he no longer has any family after the death of his brother, only to be embraced by Tre and reassured that they have each other. The film closes with an epilogue stating that Doughboy is murdered two weeks later, and Tre goes on to attend university the next fall.
In an attempt to show the dysfunctional lifestyle of the Crenshaw neighborhood, Boyz N the Hood creates a world of difficult choices among black young boys of South Central Los Angeles. The disposition of the message is from the strong yet implicitly stated notion that a father brings salvation and structure to a world of such pessimistic temptations. Singleton proves the message of the salvation of a father figure through the unfortunate death of Ricky and another victim bound to succumb to the system – Ricky’s son he left behind.