The Follower By Jon Bielecki Analysis

Jon Bielecki once said “Your circle of influence dictates your future.” This means that what influences us can affect our identities and ultimately change our futures and lives. People create identities based on themselves but ultimately their identities are affected by our environments and the people we associate with.

In short story “The Follower” the narrator tries to fit in with his neighbors. After watching his neighbor, Frankie, willingly torture himself at his brother, Gary’s, expense, the narrator wants to fit in and be like his neighbor. The narrator says in the story “Within a week I was Frankie's man, which was pretty scary because he was Gary’s man.” The narrator is shown in the story as a boy with nothing to do. Then he meets his neighbors, Frankie and Gary. Gary tortures Frankie, and

Stanley Williams was a fatherless boy who lived in Los Angeles. His mother worked several jobs and he was often alone. The article states, “Williams was bullied by some older boys in his neighborhood so by the age of twelve he began to carry around a knife to protect himself.” Williams also had to provide for himself to a certain extent, “...Williams regularly participated in these fights; the adults would bet on him and he would get part of the winnings if he won.” This dangerous environment turned Williams into a gangster. He co-founded the “Crips” gang and was eventually executed for murder. Stanley Williams had to carry a knife around for protection at the age of twelve. For any regular child that would be preposterous but for young Williams this was probably quite normal. Williams was also quite poor and had to provide for himself sometimes despite his mother working several low paying jobs. Williams participated in fights with other children to earn money. He obviously did not live in a very good environment and was affected