Robert Peace Sparknotes

Jeff Hobbs’ book The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace follows the life of a young, black man named Robert Peace who moves from an impoverished childhood on the outskirts of Newark, to the mainly white dominated Yale University, and finally, to his untimely and unsolved murder (Hobbs, 2015). Jeff Hobbs depicts the unfortunate turn of events for the main character Robert Peace that eventually led to his death, and recounts many experiences that Rob had during his short life. Jeff, having been a roommate with Robert at Yale, thought that Robert’s life had been rocked with unfortunate situations from his childhood and when things seemed bright, tragedy struck time after time.
Jeff begins the story by telling of the difficult childhood of

Robert Peace as he was raised by his mother, Jackie. His father, nicknamed Skeet, was a big part of his early life, however was later imprisoned for a double homicide. Jackie struggled to provide Robert with a private school education, and try to keep him away from the crime and drug-dominated society where young men succumbed to in their neighborhood. Fortunately, Robert did not disappoint her as his charisma and success in education earned him favors from his early childhood all the way through his educational endeavors at Yale. He began showing his intelligence at a very young age, and his father was very intellectual as well, but had chosen terrible life choices as was almost what is expected of young men from this area. Due to his exemplary performance in school, Robert lands a sponsor who offers to pay his tuition at Yale University to study molecular biophysics and biochemistry.
Unable to escape vices in his society, Robert gets caught up in drugs as a way to supplement expenditures not covered by his benefactor. He also used this extra income to help his mother, with plans to help her retire and live a better life. His mother was his heart and the reason for everything good in his life, as is repeatedly stated in the book. With the knowledge acquired at Yale, he developed a new strain of marijuana, which gained high demand status in his neighborhood and surrounding areas. Robert thought he could play it safe, and sell quietly under the radar as to not draw attention to himself as he was also working for a known big-time dealer from the neighborhood. Unfortunately, things became tragic when he was shot dead after he crossed the wrong people in his many dealings and was unable to use his charm to talk his way out of the hit. Apart from the title “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace,” the unfortunate occurrences through no fault of his own, circumstances beyond his control, or life choices of Robert’s life would be described perfectly by the title “A Bright Future Cut Short,” as it would be up to you to decide which of these were the case.
“The Choices We Depend On Are Choices We Have.”
The phrase “the choices we depend on are choices we have,” is echoed in the unfolding of events leading to the early demise of Robert. From the onset of the story, choices made by the people are based on the prevailing situations of their surroundings. First, Jackie makes a conscious effort to make a better life for her son, as most men in their area had drowned in crime and drugs and many died at a very early age or were in prison. Despite being a low paid hospital employee, she works hard to give her son a dignified life through private school education (Hobbs, 2015). She navigates through the impoverished society to network with people and institutions that would help Robert achieve his full potential, even with this being out of her comfort zone. This choices made by Jackie are fostered by the situations she finds herself in when her son’s father was jailed for double homicide, however, she is determined to give her son a better life than she or his father were able to achieve.
Roberts life is shaped by various decisions that define his social and physical landscapes in the story. From his early life, Robert chooses to alter his behaviors around different situations, basically living a multiple personality life. This is the only way he could survive among his neighbors and the street people surrounding him, by pretense which was ultimately what he despised most about other people. Robert was very kind, obedient and loving around his mother, however, a different person altogether around his friends. According to his teachers, Robert was a brilliant and focused young man, who was the very picture of someone that would go far in life and against all the odds, succeeded in his life (Hobbs, 2015).
After going to Yale University, Robert kept to himself most of the time such that even his roommate, Jeff Hobbs, did not know much about him or what his life involved outside of school.

After graduating with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry in 2002, Robert chose not to seek corporate employment and pursue a promising future in his field of study. He instead decided to return to his known world, where he felt comfortable, where drugs were forefront and poverty everywhere. Robert had a short stint working for the airline so he could use the travel benefit to travel the world, although he was fired for a minor error in judgment when he was unable to pass a required drug screening after the incident. He took a job teaching, and was very good at his job, but felt he was meant for better things and wanted to move on not long after taking the job. He was also trying to make it in the house flipping and rental properties, but that was hard in this area of poverty and low-income families. So, rather than using his prestigious education from Yale, Robert had chosen to return to his poor town, on the outskirts of Newark, and ultimately was left no choice but to engage in marijuana dealings once again to just keep his head above the water financially. He worked for weeks to develop a new strain of marijuana branded ‘Sour Diesel’ which set him apart in the marijuana industry, which he used the proceeds to provide for himself, help his family, and his friends. He was unable to say no to those he loved, so the financial burden was immense for a struggling young man and people seemed all to eager to take advantage of his kind heartedness. Unfortunately, Robert met his untimely death in 2011 when drug dealers or gang members shot him

dead.
There are different theories of why Robert was murdered. Aiming at acquiring his personally designed marijuana brand was the number one theory. However, speculations were that it could have been a rival dealer or gang who was angry that Rob was taking their business or the dealer he worked for feeling double-crossed even though Rob was careful to never cross his dealings with that of the dealer he worked for as a seller. It was a very tangled web Rob had chosen to weave feeling he could handle anything with his superior intelligence, however, in the end, this costs him his life.
Institutional Racism
Racism remains a contentious issue everywhere, especially in a multiracial country such as the United States. Throughout Robert’s life, he was a victim of racism in many forms. In Newark, NJ, where he was born, racism has been rampant and especially when the drug war, imprisonment increased the targets was mostly of black men. After Robert’s father, Skeet was convicted because of murder and the Newark racism society started to hurt him more. The legal system as an institution is depicted as being racist following Skeet’s case. According to Hobbs, nine police officers who were witnesses in the case were white (Hobbs, 2015). There were delays in the case, and Skeet was put in prison for three years before being tried, and these delays lead to a key witness dying, who would have testified in favor and possibly cleared him. Skeet was mistreated and was not given priority in this case, and this depicted the racism in Newark.
Hobbs (2015) suggests that Robert was very conscious about racism and injustices that come with the racial divide, and this was very apparent once he got to Yale. While at Yale University, Robert observed the racial divide stronger than ever before despite it being praised for its diversity. Robert depicts that Yale University tends to favor the white culture and their students, and states how out of place, he was during the first few weeks of school or in social gatherings. He gives incidences about his interactions with other students and professors, also where the administration of Yale refused to fund African-American week. Consequently, when Robert was working in the cafeteria, some white students did not clear their table and left trays there even after Robert called them to correct the mess showing the tension which existed everywhere on campus. The disrespect was prevalent everywhere Robert turned, and it seemed no matter how hard he tried to break free from the disrespect and racism it was in his face at every turn.
As a social worker at Yale University, I would adopt a couple of strategies to reduce racism in the institution. One way of ensuring that students of different races live in harmony is via increasing the number of interactive platforms that enable individuals to change their perception towards each other (DeSilva, 2007). Such platforms could include sporting events, seminars, multi-cultural workshops as well as conferences.
Multi-Dimensional Assessment of Robert Peace
Robert Peace, who is the main character in the story, is described by Jeff Hobbs as a character whose many attributes include such things as being ambitious, insensitive, and having an innate ability to hide his feelings, which all culminate in bringing about his ultimate, untimely death. In this assessment, Robert will undergo scrutiny via four lenses, namely: Strengths, Bio-psychosocial factors, structural factors and the obstacle.
• Strength or resources
One of the strengths depicted by Robert is the fact that he is a brilliant and talented student as he excels in school. His mother works hard to offer Robert a Catholic school education at St. Benedict Preparatory School where he excels in education and swimming, and fortunately, he gets a benefactor who pays his fees at the prestigious and male-dominated Yale University. Additionally, he is ambitious and aims at living a better life than the one he was brought up in and focuses on breaking the chains that hold him hostage to his upbringing and ways of life he has known growing up.
• Bio-psychosocial factors
Robert Peace portrays a couple of bio-psychosocial factors as depicted by Jeff Hobbs. Being a black male in an inner city setting influences his eventual decision to indulge in drugs and the drug trade, which ultimately cost him life. Robert used marijuana in what seemed primarily a coping mechanism as he was never able to just be, as in be himself, be at ease, or be free. Robert continuously put on a fake front or persona which he had learned at an early age as a form of survival, the art of being adaptable in different situations was key to bridge the gap between his worlds of highly intelligent private school to a streetwise young man. He acted very kind and obedient around his mother, but tough and streetwise when among his peers. This attribute of his strong personality which had moved him to the unfortunately short-lived success was one commonality among those who knew him as they realized they knew basically nothing about Robert Peace.