Monster

Kody Scott, also known as “Monster” for his viciousness in beating of a man and further crimes, forms a realistic and brutal picture of gang violence in America. Throughout his story, Scott views his gang participation as the only viable means of survival. Killing is done through the necessity to promote oneself in order to become an O.G., or Original Gangster, the pinnacle of gang member status and achievement. The urge to become an O.G. seems to be paramount in Scott's eyes, and he outlines his plan: first he must build his reputation, then his influence as part of his set, and finally as a “promoter” of the Crips (Shakur, 1993, pp. 14-15). By age eleven Scott's sole desire is to become a gang member of his local set, the Eight Trays. He disregards education, at one point stating how he paid no attention to his middle school teacher, focusing only on the streets and his “homeboys” as source of lifestyle and adventure (Shakur, 1993, pp. 3-4). He clearly reaches his goal, putting the entirety of his mental and physical being into being a gangster, even though it leads him to a life wreaked by violence and prison sentences.

While many factors can be reported to showcase the reasons why an individual would be led to such violence, ethology remains the single most accurate theory in explaining the many facets of gang violence by showing the parallels between animal behavior and the lifestyle of gang members. Ethology also attempts to explain the violence exhibited by humans as corresponding to violence displayed by animals. For predatory animals, violence is necessary for survival and adaptation to the surroundings is vital. Genetically humans are closest to chimpanzees, which “routinely engage in murder, assassination, rape, raid...

... middle of paper ...

...suit of a promoted street war and personal achievements of status and further violence.

Kody Scott's tale of the street war in Los Angeles in which he witnessed and played a dramatic part in is punctuated by the reasons behind his deviant behavior and adherence to a lifestyle focused on violence. By studying the behavioral patterns of animals in ethology, the traits of predatory animals which must fight and guard in order to stay alive is the same intensity of the battle to survive in the case of Monster's reality. Each of Monster's action's proved to be founded in the culture he was born into along with his personal desire to see his acts of violence glorified. Without the drive to commit himself to a rational lifestyle, Kody is swept into the maelstrom of gang-banging, all of its twisted faculties accepted due to an equally twisted and antisocial personality.