Wednesday, February 5, 2014

The Beautiful Struggle, Chapter 2

[The Beautiful Struggle]

In chapter 2 of The Beautiful Struggle, Coates writes, “the bad end of a beef was loose teeth and stitches, rarely shock trauma and ‘Blessed Assurance’ ringing the roof of the storefront funeral home” (30). He makes several other observations about the violence among young black males in this chapter. What one sentence or phrase concerning the violence that Coates discussed stick with you? Why? Please provide a page number.

11 comments:

gabriel said...

I felt my tenuous status slipping.... I would have had to murder Kwesi in the lunchroom to get back any respect" (page 48) that paragraph on page 48 just stuck with me. The whole school knows about the “fight” that happened between the two boys. Losing a fight meant that you lost your honor. Losing that honor meant everything to the boys. It wasn’t a matter of if they were all right or not it was more important to be considered tough. Being considered tough is important for most boys growing up but in Coates’ neighborhood I felt as if it meant a lot more.
Gabriel M.

Robert F said...

When the author says "we died for sneakers stitched by serfs, coats that gave props to teams we didn't own, hats embroidered with the names of Confederate states" (page 30) stuck with me throughout the whole chapter. Showing that our youth is striving and dying for materialistic things. Objects that held little to no sentimental value to them. Essentially living their lives from the worlds point of view, but not their own. Being that person who lived and died being like "everyone else" or the "norm" is not a way to live life in my opinion.

Jamal said...

“But somewhere about third grade they got the message: Fists could equalize it all. That if they could raise their dukes, they could cut a lot of the bullshit” (45). I found this part of chapter two to be profound because for children to have the train of thought that fighting will get them somewhere in life says a lot about our society. I know this to be true considering it was the same for me when I was in elementary school.

Carneal O said...

"I saw only one of them at first, but these things were three-card monte, and you never knew if there were ten others in camouflage waiting for you to swing or stumble on a rock."(42) This stuck with me because of how easy it is for people to get jumped. It also reminded me of the neighborhood I use to live in because with the way gangs set themselves up, one person would approach as the decoy while the others are hidden waiting for the right time to ambush one person.
Carneal O.

Carneal O said...

"I saw only one of them at first, but these things were three-card monte, and you never knew if there were ten others in camouflage waiting for you to swing or stumble on a rock." This stuck with me because it should how easily a person just minding their business can get jumped. It reminded of my neighborhood back home will the way gangs set up how they would act. The first one always comes up as a decoy then out of nowhere the entire gangs ambushes the person.

Nicholas M. said...

"There was bubbling pubescent machismo that under most circumstances resulted in blows" (46). This quote stuck out the most because it illustrates the reason why we fight in the first place.. to establish dominance over on another.

Evan T said...

This chapter hooked me from the very beginning. When he introduced the chapter with the simple statement, "When crack hit Baltimore, civilization fell" (pg. 29). This is a statement powerfully simple, yet true for so many people. It is a deep yet poetic statement to lead the chapter. He goes on to talk about how much better things used to be, and this only enforces the desperate situation of Baltimore.

I do not have a quote that stuck with me, but when he was talking about the "common threat" and walking "three deep or deeper." I have always like walking alone. It is a privilege so minuscule that shows me how lucky I have it. To not be afraid to walk alone, to be different.

Evan T.

Jeremy H said...

On page 43 the narrator is walking home from school with a group of friends. He was in the back and was approached by a group of hoodlums that were trying to stir trouble without any motive. I thought that this said a lot because most people don't know that bad areas are full of people that try to avoid trouble but most times there's nothing to do but to be tough. In my opinion, after being a victim for so long most people decide to be the assailant. While this is sad, it is a cycle of negativity that's hard to break.
Jeremy H

Isaiah Blackburn said...

"His kindness wounded me. And I knew hen that I was alone."(p. 63) Usually you are able to gain the respect of others by living consistently with your morals. However, in this case Coates' nonviolent personality has branded him as an outcast among his classmates. It's amazing how closely related violence and respect are in Coates' neighborhood. Being trapped in a terror-driven society, his decision to walk away from a fight has left him standing alone because he does not follow the status quo.

Wole A said...

There were so many memorable quotes in this chapter, the one that stood out the most to me was,"we died for sneakers stitched by serfs, Coats that gave props to teams we didn't own, hats embroidered with the names of Confederate states" (pg30). This stuck out to me because the way our generation is being raised is basically that you must acquire the most fashionable items or the most stuff in order for you to be accepted into society. It is sad to know that our world is consumed with materialism.

Terrell J. said...

"How could this sight, him helpless on the ground, pinned in a one on six be poetry?"(Coates 62)really stuck with me at the end of the chapter. In Coates' community violence seems to be a major aspect that is often used as a way to gain respect. I know people from my past that would fight someone in a effort to gain respect from their peers. A thing that people do not understand is the fact that there is no honor in jumping someone, it is cowardice that is shown instead. This reoccurring theme that you have to be tough is what is corrupting Coates' community and the fact that Coastes does not fall into that way of thinking really stands out to me.
Terrell J.