Grillo's Character Change In Always Running By Luis J. Rodriguez

The character becomes in conflict with himself when he meets and marries a girl by the name of Karen Friedman, which makes him reconsider his life as a gangster. However, he realizes that he is too deep into it and can not walk away. Despite this, for most of the film, he remains his calm, composed and likeable self, as he is shown as the only sane person of the crew. The catalyst to his character change is drugs. Once he starts dealing and using heroine and cocaine, he immediately becomes a jumpy and paranoid man, who is unable to keep his cool. His drug activities and incarceration lose him the respect of Jimmy Conway and made man Paul Cicero, who he becomes in conflict with, which makes him a marked man.

Luis was growing up into the life of gang banging, gaining a reputation in San Gabriel by being scouted into bigger gangs in the area. Increasing his involvement in the gang by stealing form stores, to eventually being part of premeditated arson and murders. Luis was well on his way to a life in prison or worse, death. By growing up during a time of racial discrimination, options were limited to becoming a factory worker or gangster. Luis met

6. “Is the Character ‘Flat’ or ‘Rounded’? A character is considered flat (or static) when he or she does not experience change of any kind, does not grow from beginning to end. Round characters are those who do experience some sort of growth.”

The decade of hip-hop is what some may call it. Tupac, Naz, Biggie Smalls, as well as other artists, were major contributions. Not only for the people who are trying to find their footing, but Buck as well. Throughout the book various lyrics were embedded in order to create a better understanding for its readers. In addition, this book is based upon a 90s lifestyle within Philadelphia, which included drugs, gang activity, crime, hip-hop, and havoc. Malo was directly in the center of everything, the girls, the fights, the guns. His experiences shed light towards what it’s like to as an African American individual living in or near the hood. Not everyone realizes what people go through while living there, but now it gives some readers an image of what goes on. Though times have changed, not all previous feelings

In the 1960s, drug culture was popularized through music and mass media, in our current society we still find this relevant. Although we are more knowledgeable about drugs and alcohol, “an estimated 208 million people internationally consume illegal drugs.” The question is why do we conform to a society that is dependent on such substances? Perhaps drug culture is still present due to the references we witness on a daily basis. Witnessing this has resulted in drugs being a constant norm in society, the recently published novel, The Other Wes Moore; addresses drug culture.

Growing up Grillo faces many issues in his life with school and at home with his parents wanting to get divorced. His problems begin when he first starts school as a young boy. As Grillo grows into his teen years his mom finds out that he is doing drugs and gets kicked out of his house and begins to sleeps in the streets, during this time Grillo felt like a worthless person so he started doing more drugs to suppress his problems to make him feel better. On page 103 it states “ i didn’t want it to end, as the effect wore thin, i grabbed the spray and the bag and

After reading The Other Wes Moore, I have realized that the two Wes Moores had similarities in their lifestyles especially in their neighborhoods. Although they were living in similar neighborhoods, their outcomes of how their life ended up being were different. One Wes ended up in jail serving a life sentence for killing a police officer in an armed robbery. The other Wes became a Rhodes Scholar, business mogul, army officer, and White House Fellow. I think the way they lived and the people that were in there lives manipulated how their lives would end.

Many say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but Le Thi Diem Thuy can paint a picture in her readers’ minds with less than twenty. She uses detailed imagery to construct a mosaic of five stories in The Gangster We Are All Looking For, a novel inspired by her own immigration to America. She takes on the role of a young girl who narrates the struggles she faces alongside her mother and father (also known as “Ma” and “Ba”) to adapt to their new environment and move on from past memories and failures. Through the use of intense imagery and figurative language, Le evokes vivid images and feelings in her readers to expose her characters’ dispositions, experiences, and emotions.

Chapter one of Luis J. Rodríguez’s memoir, Always Running: La Vida Loca, details Rodríguez’s youth living in poverty and homelessness in Los Angeles, California. With his vivid language and detail, he helps me see how growing up in this state changed his view of the world and of himself. One way poverty changed his view on the world is how he hated the cold, even more that someone who only experiences cold in the outside. His family didn’t have the money to pay for gas or light, so the house was always cold. Their bath water was always cold.

Also, he says “I came back to Miami after playing minor-league baseball in the Oakland A’s system for the 1984 season, and I was more determined than ever to turn myself into an amazing physical looking man” (Canseco 11). Since he is so into steroids, he even wants to become physically attractive since he became much more dedicated in using steroids. Jose Canseco also says “We will be able to look good and have strong, fit bodies well into our sixties and beyond” (Canseco 2). He is really devoted about wanting to get very fit and strong in his age and he wants to keep having this even in his sixties. Jose Canseco convinces me in pathos because he is really eager to become very fit, strong and

The memoir, Always Running, by Luis J. Rodriguez is about racism, stereotypes, and most importantly gang life. Luis discusses how his life was affected when he joined a gang and how race played in a role

He did this until “he folds, like a shot animal folds, over himself, folded, eyes open, his body deflated, the tube hanging out, dignity depleted” (Laskas). Richard drank so much he passed out even though he knows he should not drink at all if he does not want his body to reject his new face. Norris also smoked right after he claimed that he was advised not to. It seems as if he does not care about the miracle that happened to him. Laskas agreed with this statement and said, “All this talk of risk, all the meds, no smoking, no drinking, no falling.

A few days later he starts to see his body changing! Now his body is starting to look sexy, slim, and strong. Jimmy feels he can do anything he wants, “Okay just one more time and then I am done” Jimmy’s brain says. Finally, his friends are realizing the new Jimmy and he numerous compliments. He has two choices; stop taking the deadly drug and lose his fake muscles, or continue to increase the dosage to make himself stronger, energized, and keep pulling all the beautiful girls. Jimmy decides to continue to increase the steroids for several

The last effect is loosing in some athletic competitions. Most of these men are getting fitness and have muscle not just for having power. They want to join in some competitions for the best body. They work on their selves on the gym but there is no enough time so they use the steroid to get their muscles bigger. These types of competitions do not allow them to join if they knew that they are doing that. So, if the judges know they will lose the competitions. In that moment, they will feel angry because of the mood swings, and their blood pressure will get much higher and that is a big problem for their health.

Substance abuse with athletics such as Alex Rodriguez, Cris Carter, and much more seems to happen with lower and middle-class families, grew over time when coaches were only focused on the teammate winning but weren't looking into major things such as their health. Many players keep quiet about their dark sides due to social media and news which messes up the person image. There are two types of side effects while using drugs, by boosting a player's performance while