How The Macdonald Family Tragedies And Who Is To Blame

MacDonald Family Tragedies and Who is to Blame
The MacDonald family faced numerous types of problems that most people will never experience in their lives. The mother of this family ultimately by the end of the book losses four of her children, Kevin, Frankie, Davey, and Patrick. All of whom died tragic deaths because of the area in which they were raised. Children in different areas would never have to experience what these kids had. Southie, although claimed by its residents as the best place to live, was not as great as it was made out to seem. This exact place is actually what lead to the demise of this poor family. Although, these children do have to take some responsibility for their actions. There are some success stories of individuals

who make it out of the projects. For example, the author of this book Michael was able to make a name for himself and help better the area of Southie. The reason the MacDonald family faced so many problems are because of the area in which they grew up and the choices made by the individuals in this family.
Life in Southie
Life in Southie was less than ideal for the members of this family. Growing up with virtually no father and a mother who gives no guidance did not help these children. These kids became accustomed to the idea that the way in which life was in Southie was okay. These family members all participated in one way or another in fighting, drugs, and even suicide for some. Yet majority of this family besides Michael and Frankie for the most part saw nothing wrong with engaging in such activities. It was unfortunately just the way this area of Boston was. For instance, on the area of racism Southie seemed to not be lacking much there. It was just the way things were there, you did not like African Americans. Even if there was no reason as to why you just did not tolerate African Americans because they were starting to come into your area. With integration of the school systems that made these rising tensions even worse. A prime example of this would be “But then I belted it out, just as a few other kids I didn’t know joined the chorus. The kids in the crowd all looked at each other as if we were family. This is great, I thought” (MacDonald, 83). The situation above in which the author is speaking about was dealing with integration. Buses of African Americans were coming into their town for school and the people of Southie did not want to deal with it whatsoever. Then they started chanting about their town, that is when Michael decided to join in. He references the idea of how it felt like family and how it great it was. That shows exactly how life in Southie influenced the way in which you lived dramatically. Everything was just accepted, except for the fact that the rules of Southie did not work anywhere else. Furthermore, showing that what went on there was not acceptable elsewhere.
Crime in Southie
Arguably one of the biggest factors into the misfortune of the MacDonald family would be the crime influence in Southie.

Southie was ruled by the Irish Mob and its evil leader Whitey Bulger. This mob is what influenced the idea of no one is a rat. Whenever a crime occurred in Southie not a single person would speak. Even if someone witnessed the crime and know who did it they did not fess up. Everyone knew if you spoke about a crime you would either be hurt or killed. This is what made it so difficult for life to be improved in Southie. Crimes were being committed and there was no way of the police figuring out who did it. Therefore, there was no way of stopping this mob from continuing to ruin the town. This mob is what ultimately got both Frankie and Kevin killed. This mob is what brought so many problems upon the MacDonald family. For starters, Kevin was selling drugs out of their home for Whitey. That is what tied him into the mob. Frankie, although a straight arrow, was a fighter and worked with a lot of Whitey’s gang. Also, their sister Kathy got herself hooked on Angel Dust which can be connected back to Whitey as well. The results of their involvement ended poorly for every single one of them. Frankie ended up doing a bank job for Whitey and ended up getting killed. He was one of the most promising brothers of the family, yet he died because of Southie and the Irish Mob. Kathy, while high on Angel Dust, fell off the roof and ended up in a coma for months. Finally,

Kevin ended up killing himself while in a prison for the criminally insane. However, Michael believed that Whitey had him killed. Kevin seemed to be coming around in a note he left for Ma so that raised some suspicion. Michael goes on to say that “that the last person to visit Kevin, according to the sign-in-book, was Detective Walter Kirby, known to be a good friend to the boys and to Whitey himself” (MacDonald, 196). The quote above exemplifies that more than likely Kevin was murdered by Whitey’s boys. All the siblings that got involved with the Irish Mob had tragic repercussions. This shows how the organized crime that took place in Southie drastically caused many problems for the MacDonald family.
Individual Responsibilities
The area of Southie was a terrible one to say the least.

There was crime, drugs, poverty, suicide, and even more. Southie took a hard hit on the MacDonald and influenced a vast amount of their children. However, you cannot blame the area completely for all the misfortunes of this family. At some point these kids need to own up to their actions. Although it may be more slanted for the people of Southie to tell the difference between right and wrong, you still know deep down when something is wrong. Some cases the children of this family would succeed outside of this area, but I believe some would still have the same issues. Frankie for example would have been completely fine if he grew up outside of Southie. He was a straight arrow and only went bad because of Whitey. However, members of the family like Kevin most likely would still have bad outcomes outside of Southie. Kevin’s personality is what ultimately got him killed. He finally started to make a name for himself and was safely living with his own family outside of Southie. His personality drew him back to the area and back to his old ways. Obviously, Whitey’s influence did not help, but what ultimately got him killed was himself. For an example “Ma told him to get out of Southie. But Kevin kept coming around” (MacDonald, 193). This was right after Frankie died and Kevin started getting into trouble again. He just could not stay away, even though he had a life set up for him elsewhere. That shows how regardless of

Southie, with Kevin’s personality, he would not have done well elsewhere. There is no dismissing the influence that Whitey and Southie had on the MacDonald family, however there is a certain point where individuals need to claim responsibility for their actions.
Conclusion
The MacDonald family experienced many hardships throughout the course of All Souls. All these hardships were due to the fact that they grew up and were influenced by Southie and the fault of the choices made by the individual members of the family. The MacDonald family was never truly given a fair chance. This family faced so many problems that is hard for one to even fathom. The organized crime that took place in Southie took a hard toll on the MacDonalds. That is not dismissible whatsoever. Most of the members of this family would have been completely fine if they were taken out of this environment. However, that is not the case for all and that is why choices made by the individual members of the family got them into the situations they were in. Southie, the best place in the world, I think that is incredibly as far from the truth as possible.