Never Give Up, Never Surrender

Once most men are broken they will stay damaged. It takes a rare figure to come out of the fire tempered to a stronger man. Socrates Fortlow is such a man, tempered by guilt, jail and a hard life to become a better human being. Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley shows some of the grit of humanity but some of the finest as well. The rooster, Billy, starts the novel and shows Socrates a last gasp can be your most important. As the book progresses, a job becomes a courtroom where Socrates fights for his right to work. Later when he must stop a pyromaniac, he forces himself to go against a lifetime of learned distrust and seek the police for help and justice. Socrates most telling and difficult challenge follows when he must let go of his dearest friend. Throughout this novel of urban struggle it is made clear that if a few core values are held up then your life has to be worth something.

Socrates Fortlow is an ex-con. He has spent twenty-seven years of his life in jail on a rape and double homicide. The guilt of his crime weighs all the heavier because of his victims, his two best friends. Socrates is not a saint by any means. He committed a crime everyday he was in prison”find quote” Once out he rented a two room shack and tried to survive by collecting cans, doing odd jobs, and growing some of his own vegetables. He has been this way for eight years. Something must change. He must do something, make a stand, anything.

The death of Billy, one of Socrates few friends, is the match that rekindles his want for something better. Billy was very old but he never gave in, “The rooster was horse in his old age, his crow no more than a whisper. But as least that motherfucker tried” (Mosley, 24). Despite being totally incapable of saving himself the rooster gave the slightest whisper as he died which was more than Socrates would do if he didn’t start some change and quick. Fear is what kept Socrates from doing almost anything, but with Billy having done more with his little rooster life than he had accomplished in his own, he knew that if he didn’t alter his life he would die useless. Making friends with Darryl and being willing to help him however he can is Socrates first step towards healing himself. As there friendship develops he realizes that Darryl is a lot like him and to save him would be a way to help redeem himself.

A Bounty Supermarket ma...

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...ew of a sound moral structure but there is a rigid consistency to it that makes it more approachable than someone who considers themselves to be better than most. He knows he is a bad person, but he also knows that he can lay down and die or try to put some things right to make up for your crimes. Throughout the novel Socrates helps people... in his own way. He uses the slain rooster, Billy, to get through to Darryl who was already street hardened, but still salvageable. Socrates sense of what is and what should be allowed him to fight with his mind and mouth to get a job. His need to protect the neighborhood and its population forces him to bend his rigid code but for the greater good. And his love for his best friend allows him to turn his back so that he may die as he likes, with a sense of peace and dignity. The last line when he is on the bus still with the .45 he contemplates his own suicide but the same dignity he allowed Right stops him, “ ‘He don’t need no police car or hospital,’ Socrates muttered. ‘He don’t need none’a that shit. And neither do I’ “ (Mosley, 208). In Socrates world its about the effort more than the outcome, but if you try hard enough you will be a man.