James had a very tough up and coming. His mom is a White jew while his dad was an African american. He didn't really know where he belonged or where he would fit in. A major scene in the book where his Identity is challenged and is forced to compare his mom to the others is when James’s mom went to pick him up at the bus stop. James asked his mom,” Why aren’t you like all the other moms?” He doesn't really understand why his mom looks very different from him. He always grew up with his embarrassing him. She would always ride a bike around in her predominantly Black neighborhood. This was her way to handle the death of James’ dad. She was always different and this leads to James not really finding a group to fit in. It makes his identity very different to embarrass because he didn't ever have a “normal household.” …show more content…
Things James did was more or less dropout of school, hanginout with bad kids, and smoking reefer. This is a physical representation of him trying to find a group to fit into and his trying to make an identity for himself. He didn't have to many options. “ I was finally the king in my house, the oldest kid with the power to boss and torture my younger siblings the way i'd been bose and tortured…” said James in Chapter 14. This is where he is shutting out and away from his family the way his mom did when his Father died. I can relate to James situation because i have been through this personally. I liked to shut out and not really talk a lot about it. Something i have done to really deal with it is doing sports and lifting. These to things help me really clear my
He was offered a “Club cap” but James “gave it back” to his friend, Kris. They waited until Kris left the apartment building, then played a game of checkers. James had wanted to fit in with his friends in the “K-Bones” club but had realized that his brother was more important. He pushed his friend away to play games with Isaac. Furthermore, James has to “take care of” Isaac when his mother is at work. Even when he is trying to fit in with a devious club, he would still “hold Isaac’s hand” or even “carry him home”. James is a very nice and caring brother. This is logical because, that is what a good brother should look like. James must truly love Isaac as his brother, and admires his family more than his
Unknown, to James at this point he did not realize that he was having a problem with a psychological theory called behaviorism. Now this theory is one that is saying human behavior is developed through learning experiences which in this case would apply to James. His behavior as an adult was reflected by the way he was treated as a kid by his father and mother because they fought all the time. They never truly paid any attention to him, which in terms taught him how to stay out of their way and learn how to steal and burglarize places without getting caught. Therefore, within the psychological theory of behaviorism Behaviorists saw crime as something that is a learned response to life’s situations such as James situation which led him to a life of crime because of his parents. Although, he was never truly mistreated, he did not receive his father attention due to the fact of the way his father was treated as a child growing up an abusive household. Therefore, he did not want to place his son in the same situation. There is also the fact that James could be suffering from the psychodynamic theory which says that a person’s personality can be controlled by their unconscious mental process and that is grounded in them in early childhood. These entire things such as the id, ego, and superego
Another strong rhetoric device that was used in the story was emphasizing the “subject and audience” aspect of the Aristotelian Triangle. While writing this book, the author knew that most of his audience would not be people who know much about the ghetto. However, he still wanted to write a piece that would allow the readers to read the book and develop a strong understanding of what the it was like and be able to sway over to his side. He tried to make the subject as descriptive as he can to the audience to fulfill his purpose on educating the audience on the “other side of America”. He includes all aspects of the young boys’ lives: problems with the law, drug deals, deaths of close and loved ones, a bad school and education system, and the thought of knowing that nothing can be guaranteed where the two boys live. A description from a scene in the book shows one of the aspects of the young boys’ lives. When Lafayette (the younger, and more scholarly brother) saw that his brother, Pharoah (the misguided and troubled brother) did not get sentenced to juvenile hall, the book described the scene as “Lafayette was shocked when Pharoah walked into the room. One day they’re here and the next day they could be gone”. This scene covers one of the aspects of lives in the ghetto and how nothing is promised or granted to them unlike people in nicer parts of the country. Another topic covered in the book was about
It causes a drift into their family and it influenced James from then on out. A few months after he died, everything changed. James writes, “She sent us off to school and tried to maintain her crazy house as usual, ranting about this and that, but the fire was gone. In the evening, she often sat at the kitchen table completely lost in thought” (137). When Ruth becomes lost in her own world, her behavior influences James. They both grieved for his death in different ways yet, his mothers grieve influenced him the most. Seeing her slowly fall apart was too much for James. He started skipping school, shoplifting, hanging with the wrong crowd, and he eventually became addicted to smoking reefer or drinking alcohol. Slowly, James is sinking into a hole he can't climb out of with all of his bad decisions. On an afternoon, after James nearly dies, he talks with chicken man, “Everybody on the corner is smart. You ain't no smarter than anybody here. If you so smart, why got to come on this corner every summer? ‘Cause you flunking school! You think if you drop out of school somebody's gonna beg you to g back? Hell no. They won't beg your black ass to go back. What makes you so special that they'll beg you! Who are you? You ain't nobody! If you want to drop out of school and shoot people ad hang on this corner all your life, go ahead, it's your life” (150). After James spoke with Chicken
At the beginning, James doesn't allow others to sense any form of his weaknesses. He preferably let the world see him that he is tough and can take care of himself. The character of James makes me realize that we all have stories to tell about even if it is the war between you and your demons that you had encountered, may encounter or will encounter. I don't want others to see my weaknesses to make his/her own judgment about who I am. But somehow that opinions made you think about who are you in their perspective or point of
He lived a life without parental guidance. His mother left him with his father when he was only 4 years old. James was often left alone while his father traveled to turpentine camps selling tar for a living. James recalls the times he spent alone walking around in the woods looking for doodlebugs, and playing a harmonica his father gave him. During this time alone, he never had anyone around to talk to but himself (Brenchley, 2003).
As James grew up he still kept a good relationship with his brothers and sisters. Since James is
When first starting to read this novel, the readers are immediately introduced to each of the characters: James, his mother, his father, his sister, both of their boy friends, and John, his coworker. It becomes clear that James does not like to socialize, and because of this, he does not easily open up to the people around him. Due to this reason, the book is mainly told through his thoughts. It is apparent that James only...
James through a Marxist lens, many noticeable aspects are acknowledged. For instance, a Marxist view of this novel unfolds the improper distribution of affluences. The deceptions used by the bourgeoisie to maintain their position of privilege is another observable aspect that is noticed through a Marxist lens. Lastly, it is proven that class determines the well being of an individual when examining The Children of Men through a Marxist theory. After analyzing this novel, it is learned that no matter how advance mankind moves forward in society, wealth is a key component to living a life in
...r but Octavia tells him "You not a bum," she says. "You a man."(p.404) This is significant because it shows he is not seen as a young boy by his mother anymore, he is now seen as a man. We see the influence and change in James by all of the life lessons his mother instills in him, she tells him he needs to not cry, to be strong, and be able to stand alone symbolizes that he must be independent, he must also put others before himself and do things he may not like to do but must do as a necessity to live, such as killing the cardinal birds for supper. Helena also shows James that everything in life you must work for, that is why she tells him to take out the trash cans.
James’s initial words symbolize his provincial perspective and his inability to grasp reality. He is convinced, like many others, that
He doesn’t know if he even is himself. He wants is father like him, but he doesn’t want to be like him. His dad also loves hunting and “Being a man.” But James doesn’t want to kill animals and just wants to be loved. He wants to decide for himself who he wants to be as a person.
James was an authoritarian parent. He was controlling, in-charge and no one questioned him. He would play the role of the doting father. When his children made mistakes, he made a point to criticize them. He often compared them to other kids that he felt were “more perfect.” When his often unspoken expectations were not met he would yell and scream striking fear into his entire family. “He’s not a warm, fuzzy kind of guy, and he’s not going to inspire feelings of intimacy. But when his system works, he can boast about one thing: His recruits tend to obey” (Dewar).
Just think if James would not have been born in such a poor and terrible neighborhood, he may not have fight in him to have made it. And if he didn’t play sports as a child he might have got in trouble just because he was in such a terrible neighborhood, so sports kept his mind occupied and he didn’t get into too much trouble. James tried to help his neighborhood out by donating 1000 backpacks to the Akron and Cleveland areas (Contemporary C6). He knows how it is to live in a life like that, he wants to do everything to help, even though he really didn’t have anybody to help him. Even though the odds were against him he used that talent and went all the way.
Howland begins her analysis by looking at how James took an anecdote given to him one night at a dinner party and made the "tale purely American." To Howland, the very location of Washington Square stands for James' perception of "the stifling provincial life of America" in that it is "the object of Morris' aspirations; the prison of Catherine's confinement; the seat of the Doctor's power (sic)" (16). By confining the characters to the small world of Washington Square, says Howland, James created a "closed system" in which he could work his irony most effectively (5). She also notes how James changed the simple anecdote into an ironic contest of wills. He made the father the "heavy" rather than the fortune-hunter, and he made the father a scientist, a "scholarly doctor" so that he fit in with the American values of earning an income (or seeming to), and appreciating science (Howland 3).