Third TS/R: Lastly By Willy Russell

Hansberry, not only, played on the condition of the apartment; she used the size as well. The condition alone portrayed the despair and oppression the Youngers felt, but Hansberry wanted to make their struggle to suppress depression undeniable. She did this by placing the family of five, soon to be six, in a two-bedroom apartment with no bathroom. This small, cramped apartment also symbolized the pressures from society to divvy up the limited resources partitioned for African-Americans. By setting the scene this way, Hansberry also was able to set the mood. The feeling of tension and need for the characters to fight for their fair share is apparent in the opening act, as Ruth rushes Travis into the bathroom before the neighbors. These feelings serve as a foundation for the problems in act three between brother and sister, Ruth’s motive to have an abortion, and represent an explanation to the need so many African-Americans felt to compete against each other. Hansberry characterized the lack of resources, a common theme here, not only in the lack of space, but also in the lack of food, money, and sunlight. As conflict intensified in the small space, Mama realized that her be-loved family was falling apart and only the reality of owning a home could bring unity.

The entire story centers around three main characters: Uncle trash and the two brothers. Although the boys’ mother and father are mentioned briefly in the beginning, the mother comes off as unstable and out of her right mind, causing her to run away and the father going after her, both leaving the kids behind not taking into consideration that they are too young for the responsibility of independence, much less their living conditions are barely enough to support a decent quality of life. Despite Uncle Trash being given the responsibility to look after the boys, he’s not necessarily one to care for much of what goes on outside of a bar, especially the boys well being since upon his arrival his first

This book is about two black children, Layfette and Pharaoh, who grow up in inner city Chicago. They are faced with racism and hardships because of their race and social class. They have different ways of coping, but are better at facing the worst the city has to offer than are many of the other young black children who live around them. During the story the boys are faced with many adversities that stem from the social system. They are faced with gangs, drugs and Chicago housing. However, they also must face their own inner demons that may lead to either of them giving up and giving in to the corruption of the inner city. One of the major turning points in the story is when Layfette gets arrested for vandalizing a car, even though he says he did not. He gets released and is gets off with probation and 100 hours of community service. After this incident the author gets both kids in to a private school where Pharaoh thrives and starts to make good grades instead of daydreaming. Unfortunately Layfette could not handle the pressure and returns to public school. During this time Rickey starts running drugs for one of the local gangs. He is later arrested for carrying a butcher knife. The CHA finally cleans out the horrendous mess in the Henry Horner basements and reclaims the buildings from the gangs. Dawn and Demetrius finally get an

With the arrival of the family in Welch, the sense of disconnection was furthered by the blending of family politics. The Walls family, dependent upon the charity of Rex’s parents for food and shelter now had to contend with racism and sexual abuse. The children who had been encouraged to speak freely about their opinions now had to keep quiet. Jeanette had visited a different neighborhood which her uncle had referred to as “Niggerville,” and this blatantly racist attitude was a shock (Walls 143). The grandmother accosted Jeanette that day, commenting “keep this up and people are going to think you are a nigger lover” not only was the word offensive to Jeanette, she told her grandmother “You’re not supposed to use that word, mom says they are just like us” (Walls 143). Her opinion was not appreciated; as a result, she was banished to the basement by her grandmother without food. There was no support from Rose Mary on the issue due to their dependence on the grandparents for food and

From the tone of Mick’s voice, the alcohol acts a sedative to numb the pain from his past. This motive for drinking is also evident through Lisa’s brother, Jimmy, after he loses both his girlfriend, Adelaine, and his goal in becoming an Olympic swimmer. The legacy of residential school is also manifested in Trudy and Tab’s mother-daughter relationship. Tab becomes the victim of her mother’s psychological and emotional upheaval that is a result from her childhood. In the grip of alcohol, Trudy often mistreats Tab. Removed from a family environment and placed in a reformation school, individuals return not only emotionally and psychologically scarred, but also unable to reestablish their own functional family. Tab confesses to Lisa that she wishes she had a mother like hers, saying, “You’re lucky. You’re really lucky that your dad was too young to go to rez school. [...] Just Mick and my mum went and it fucked them up” (Robinson 254). Trudy’s sister Kate also notes that Trudy “thinks Mother’s dirt, while she goes out and parties and treats Tab worse than what she blames Mother for” (Robinson 285).

The Outsiders is a novel written by a then 15 year-old by the name of S.E. Hinton. The tale of social divides revolves around a group of six teenage “greasers”. One of these greasers is Dallas “Dally” Winston. The greasers are the poor and underprivileged in society. The greasers as a group are in a constant struggle against the socialites, the high point of society, who are referred to as “socs”. Dally Winston is among the worst of them in terms of respect for the law. “He had quite a reputation. They have a file on him down at the police station. He had been arrested, he got drunk, he rode in rodeos, lied, cheated, stole, rolled drunks, jumped small kids--he did everything.”(11). Dally is said to have lived in New York for three years and had been arrested at the young age of 10. His behavior seems wild and unexplainable, but it can be deciphered through the means of Erikson’s theory on the stages of development, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.

Sonny has a “rough” time where he finds himself in “jail” for “narcotics trafficking” (208). Skloot reveals how not having a guardian and guidance leads someone to turn to occupations they would have never committed to before. Also, she emphasizes how authority is needed in a child so they may stay in the right path of life. Also, Deborah becomes so upset she cries out for help: “‘...Just being sad and crying to myself..Why, Lord, did you take my mother when I needed her so much?’” (218). Deborah changed from a happy child to someone in desperate need of a parent when she lost her mother. Skloot reveals how the requisite fostering of a parent lifts the children up in awful

The book Honky is a memoir of a privileged white boy, Dalton Conley, who grows up in the projects on the lower east side of New York, where the majority residents are African American and Latinos. It’s a detailed memoir of the child’s point of view in his eyes of the environment that surrounds him: school, parks, buses, etc. Conley’s has two working parents, mother is a writer and father is a struggling artist who at one point was living on food stamps while raising the family in the projects. However, even while growing up in the projects, the mother stereotype and tries to “protect” her son from the “bad” things that happen within the projects.

Change is a part of life. Without change, nothing in the world would ever improve. Just like the green summer leaves change their color into fiery reds and oranges, humans can experience indirect or direct changes. Without a doubt, Holling Hoodhood is a dynamic character, which means his disposition and behavior changes. Originally, Holling has a narrow sense of importance because he sees how his father’s life revolves around the family business, Hoodhood and Associates. Despite his father’s opinion, Holling’s sister Heather, promotes a different perspective in the business-oriented household and shows him indirectly by standing up to their father for her beliefs

Meanwhile her mother is slowly, with the help of cocaine, sucked into a chaotic lifestyle. It really doesn’t help that the family lives on East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx, where the drug trade is booming. As a result her mother withdraws from raising Jessica, her siblings and her grandchild—Jessica’s daughter. Jessica’s mother’s dependency on cocaine pushes away Jessica’s stepfather, the only close-to-levelheaded person in their lives. Her eldest brother doesn’t bother to care about where his misguided family members are going, and he moves out once he is able. 

At 15, Jessica’s homebody younger sister follows in her footsteps and gets pregnant. Young mothers seem to be the norm in this family. Jessica’s youngest and favorite sibling, Cesar, continually behaves like a thug. He is smart but never focuses on school. The streets are his home, and at the age of 14 he is on his way to becoming a father. 

The twists and turns of Jessica’s and her family’s lives are developed eloquently. This is definitely not the stereotypical “hood” story of boy gets girl pregnant, boy’s big dreams are shattered, boy is enticed by the drug business, and eventually boy gets thrown into jail. This story goes much deeper into people’s lives. 

Random Family is deliberate and well thought out. After developing Jessica and her family, LeBlanc introduces other characters only after providing their backgrounds. In this way, the

This is where Conner grew up and thought he would live until his parents signed unwind orders. Risa lives in a different part of the city, at a state home. This is where unwanted babies go to live until they are 13, then they are unwound. Both these main characters were living in pretty nice conditions until they were sent away. Now they are fighting for their life and are living in whatever conditions they

The author uses the young girls’ friendship to show the world that if small children can interact freely despite being of different races, why would adults discriminate against one another? The author intended to use two different races without mentioning them since he knew that readers are very intelligent and can always figure out the races he was talking about. In addition, the author was very skillful in keeping the reader in suspense so as to compel the reader to read all through in an effort to find out what the two races are (Sklar, Howard 137-154). The author is trying to show us that there are different social classes between the two races. This is evident through the description the author gives the two mothers, that is the mother of Twyla and Roberta’s mother. Twyla’s mother is described as party lady who often attends to parties such that she can’t afford to have time to care for her daughter. This alone shows that Twyla’s mother belongs to a better well off social class. Only a person with money would go to parties very often. Therefore, as readers, we are able to conclude that Twyla and her mother belong to a high social class. Only people in high social classes are associated

Twyla is faced with the struggles of being a young woman whose mother is constantly out partying and possibly abusing drugs and abandons her at the group home. Twyla has to be the mother, and takes care of herself even at the group home. She grows to face the struggles of a poor waitress who marries into a loving family, struggling with stability. As she and Roberta age and grow apart and run into each other, their main source of contention has been Maggie. Maggie is mute and possibly deaf, and is of undetermined race, but is a mostly functional adult who is abused by the girls (Morrison 1405). How they treat her is reflective of their feelings towards their mothers, Twyla minimizing and repressing, and Roberta blames the “other” of hurting her. They can’t reconcile their past, and so they go their separate ways. She struggles to find her voice when she encounters Roberta, as their racial differences and accusations keep her from speaking out. Attempting to reconcile her memory with Roberta’s tale is too difficult, until the end of the story, as they’ve both had time to heal and realize neither was right- they didn’t assault her, but they both wanted to, picturing their mothers in her place. Twyla wanted “the right mother” one who “wasn’t deaf and dumb to her needs” (Stanley). As she comes full circle, raising a good, healthy child, and her mother long gone, Twyla can finally heal herself.

Girls in Taylor’s high school typically drop out to have children of their own. Many of the boys drop out to work on farms. Taylor sets morals for herself to stray away from getting pregnant or dropping out to work on a farm. Along with Taylor, “Mama always said barefoot and pregnant was not my style. She knew” (Kingsolver, 4). A neighbor of Taylor, Newt Hardbine had adhered to the typical act of their town. Newt dropped out to work on his father’s farm, and in the meantime got his girlfriend pregnant. Newt and Taylor could pass as brother and sister, so people within the town always wondered who was going to be the one to escape the small town life. This primarily affects Taylor in her decision to leave Pittman County. She does not want to conform to the social norm of her small town, so Taylor decides to work in their county hospital just to make enough money to buy a run-down Volkswagen. She makes a goal for herself, to drive until she is out of gas and rename herself after the town she ends up in. From there, she would continue until her car broke down and settle in the new town. It is ones choice to let themselves be affected by these morals so this example shows how the societal norms of a town are able to run one away to avoid

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are extremely influential novels that can teach great lessons to teenagers and adults. One of The Outsider’s main themes is; everybody has different problems, but everybody is still the same. This theme is shown throughout the entire novel and explains it well. There are two different groups in the setting of The Outsiders, the socs and the greasers. The socs are the rich kids that drive nice cars and get into a lot of trouble without being punished by their parents, and the greasers are the less wealthy kids that fight with the socs and wear greased back hair and leather jackets. Both of these groups are completely different people, but they still live in the same city and see the same environment. As Ponyboy states “Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset” (Hinton).