This book really interested me because it was a novel that I feel I would have read outside of class. It dealt with issues that I find interesting. What I liked about it was that throughout the book I couldnt decide how I felt about Steve. When reading it you want to believe he did no wrong and that he did back out when it came to the robbery and that in general peer pressure was what lead him to join these certain "friends". When I first started reading it I found it interesting that Steve is going back and forth on how he feels about himself. When we did our quiz in the last class it asked what issus Steve faced internally and externally. I think throughout his book Steve was trying to find himself. First off he is only 16 and being so young facing jail for murder can change a person in ways that one who hasn't will not experience. I believed that throughout the book there were cases that Steve did stick to the fact he felt he didn't do anything wrong (that he was in the wrong place at the "wrong time") but he felt guilty for ever being assoicated with the James, Bobo and Cruz. I know that he sticks to his belief that he is NOT a bad person, because he says it on pg. 93. One thing that interested me was in the beginning of the book Mrs.O'Brien tells Steve that he needs to believe in himself if he wants to win the trial. This made me wonder if Steve didn't care too much about the trial because he knew he was innocent (at least he KNEW he was) and felt that whatever happened, happened. I had a lot of questions when reading the book - for example, did Mrs. O'Brien really believe that Steve was innoncent? In the beginning I felt that she was scared of him in a way and was back and forth on her opinon. But, at the end Steve mentions " What caused her to turn away? What did she see? "
If anyone wants to answer any of the questions I had on comments with your ideas that would be great :)!
- Nora
It is definitely evident that Steve constantly was trying to find himself in the novel. It's definitely strange that O'Brien would tell Steve to believe in himself but she couldn't believe in him herself. He knows that she doesn't believe that he is innocent so I thiink it helps to contribute to his constant struggle to find himeslf; how can he believe hes innocent when his attorney can't?
ReplyDeleteI did have a feeling that O'Brien didn't truly believe he was innocent. I feel that maybe as the story went on she gained more confidence in him but it's hard to tell. I think she wasn't looking at him for him, but instead i think she saw the stereotype right away. It's hard for someone to believe in themselves when everyone else around them doesn't.
ReplyDeleteI think O'Brien is simply stating what society leads her to "believe" about young, black men that grow up in the ghetto of Harlem.
ReplyDeleteDoes Steve even have a real chance of "shaking" this association, regardless of how "good" or "innocent" he may be?