Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Autobiography of My Dead Brother



Author: Walter Dean Myers
Original Date of Publication: 2006

Main Characters
Jesse Givens:  A teenager dealing with friendships and the issue of manhood.
Rise Johnson:  A young man craving power and fame, who is also Jesse's best friend.
C.J. Europe:  Jesse's musically talented friend who's struggling with manhood.
Mason Grier:  A young man who is in jail for robbery.
Sidney Rock:  A policeman who wants to help the young men in Harlem to make the right decisions.
Little Man:  An angry boy living in the neighborhood.
Gun, Benny, and Calvin:  Jesse's friends who encounter the struggles of growing up in Harlem.

Setting
The story takes place in Harlem, New York, which is where the author was raised. Since Harlem has gone through several changes since the beginning of the 20th century, and the closest state to how it is depicted in the book is the recent time period from the 90’s to the present. It is a predominantly minority inhabited area. The setting plays a great role in the story. As the characters struggle to learn about manhood and brotherhood, violence is steeped in their environment and shapes their belief and perspectives, and ultimately their lives. At the start of the book, Booby Green is dead, and he dies through a drive by, and it seems the killers might not have even known who they killed. Throughout the story, the characters face violence and death, which is what they’ve grown up with.

Themes
When first analyzing Autobiography of My Dead Brother, in terms of themes, violence is probably one of the first things to come to mind.  Violence is expressed throughout the book in many different ways, whether it be out of love or with the intent to kill.  Our first example of violence is shown in the very beginning of the book when a funeral is taking place for a young boy named Bobby Green, who was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting.  This opening scene sets the mood for the book and introduces the idea of gangs that are happening in this city.  Another form of violence that we see is later in the book when Jesse's father hits him in the face.  Although this was very hurtful we realize that this violence happened out of his father's attempt to "slap some sense into him" and keep him out of the gang scene.

Another strong theme we see in the book is friendship or brotherhood.  The young boys in Autobiography of My Dead Brother are just looking for a place to fit in.  They find this in each other by joining a group called the Counts.  By being members of this group, together they form a strong sense of brotherhood.  Jesse talks strongly about how he feels very close with Rise, not only because they are blood brothers, but also because they have known each other since childhood.  We really do see the brotherhood between these two characters as they grow into two separate people but continue to keep the tight bond between them. 

The last theme we pick up on in the book is the sense of becoming a man.  The young men in this book are yearning to become adults and "become a man".  Although they all share this desire most are fulfilling this dream in the wrong fashion.  They are very quick to act out in violence in order to prove themselves to the people around them.  Jesse and C.J. are two of the few in this book that have learned quickly that violence is not what gets you where you need to be and certainly does not prove that you are a man. 


Questions and Issues
In the novel, Autobiography of My Dead Brother, there is one major issue that presents a lot of questions. The issue is gangs.  This book deals with young kids associating themselves with gangs and the violence that comes along with gangs.  A question that is looked at with this issue is, why do theses young kids feel like they should be apart of this type of violence?  Each character in this book is different on why they want to be in this gang.  One character feels like he just wants to have power be looked up to as the "big man".  Another character feels like he should be in a gang because his friends are in it and he wants to follow what they do.  The issue of gangs is not uncommon in the world we live in.  There is a lot of pressure to look "cool" to people and these young kids feel like if they join a gang it makes them that much cooler.  However, these kids do not realize the serious consequence that may come along with being in a gang.  A consequence that goes hand in hand with gangs is death. Through this book, the two main characters, Jesse and C.J., realize the question of death that is associated with gangs is something that happens a lot and is common when there friend Rise is shot and killed.  As one can see many questions arise out of this issue of gangs.

No comments:

Post a Comment