Survival in The Hammer Man
A young girl “ a deviant family” living in “ a deviant neighborhood” is the first person narrator and protagonist in Toni Cade Bambara’s The Hammer Man. The story takes place during a period of time when the girl supposedly gains new maturity, sensitivity, and insight as she develops from a tomboy to a young lady. The focus of the tale is her struggle with a neighborhood antagonist as she describes the events of about a year. At first she speaks in a very self-centered manner and later, relating her final encounter with this rival, she reveals somewhat greater empathy and understanding.
The girl, who is not named in the story, is actually a tough, street smart brat who gets her kicks out of picking on the mentally impaired Manny. Manny is a challenge to her because “ say you were crazy. . .you were officially not to be messed with” (paragraph 2) and she never does what she is officially told. When Manny attempts to retaliate, she fakes illness to avoid him. Rather than facing the consequences of her actions herself, she unrepentingly watches others fight her battles for her. Miss Rose fights with Manny’s mother and her father argues with Manny’s older brother. She accepts this as her due. Her only regret, at this time, is that she “’ve settled for hitting off the little girls in the school yard” (paragraph 3). They are not crazy and would not come after her, forcing her self-imposed illness which is keeping her isolated.
Thus, the girl’s growth and development in the story is influenced by Manny. He is the unknowing and unrecognized catalyst who triggers the change and sets in motion the maturing of this girl.
Crazy Manny is also a product of the same deviant neighborhood. Hi...
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...tion and reverts to her self-centeredness. However, it is a beginning. And although at the end her thoughts of Manny are less than nothing, she is changing. She does not realize, even to herself, how he has influenced this change.
Manny we are told ended up “ some kind of big house for people who lose their marbles” (paragraph 33). How different the ending of this story could have been if the cops had admired his skill, or if he had had a mentor to guide him and to develop his abilities as an athlete, or if he had been given the opportunity to use his hammer as a tool instead of a weapon.
The story is mainly about this tough narrator’s growing up and surviving a hostile environment, but it is also a sad tale of how society fails those, like Manny, who are less able to cope.
Story reprinted in St. Martin's Guide to Writing, 4th Edition, 1994: 390-394.
In today's world there is kids in child labor and many people struggling with poverty. It is important that Francisco Jimenez tells a story of migrant farm workers because many people don't understand the struggles the workers go throw.This is relevant to our lives because people who aren't struggling with poverty or are in child labor take most things for granted and those who struggle would be more than grateful for the most slightest
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Manny gradually shifts from obliviously reckless, to outgoing and cautious,
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Throughout the years, women have been mistreated brutally by gangs in their neighborhood. In a memoir by Luis Rodriguez, Always Running, the main character experiences many random acts such as shootings, rape, and many arrests. Even though, Luis may seem like a very tough young man, he gives the women the respect and love they wish to receive from a gang member. In today’s society, many young girls are attracted to what society calls a “bad boy” because their lifestyle seems exciting. When one decides to join a gang, one must prove their loyalty to their new family by getting “jumped” by the whole gang or committing a serious crime. When a young girl begins to date a gang member, she begins to see how quickly a situation can escalate to a violent scene and abuse. As soon as a young girl is expose to that lifestyle, they tend to get mistreated mentally and physically by other gang
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The National Security Act of 1947 created the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). President Truman’s vision of the CIA was a peacetime intelligence agency that provided early warnings in the event of an attack. After President Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, a loophole was found. The National Security Act “instructed the CIA to correlate, evaluate, and disseminate intelligence and to perform ‘other functions and duties related to intelligence affecting the national security’ ” (Weiner 2007). The CIA used this wording of ‘other functions’ to conduct secret operations overseas and to practice cloak and dagger methods in obtaining intelligence. Since its establishment over sixty years ago, the CIA’s implementation of cloak and dagger intelligence gathering has evolved to developing a componen...
Slick showed Rios the “hotspots” where life shapes these youth environments. The structure, as well as the constraints, that shape these young boys life in the neighborhood, slick points out a corner where one of his best friends got shot by a drive-by shooting. The lifestyle of these young boys is tragic.
“The story employs a dramatic point of view that emphasizes the fragility of human relationships. It shows understanding and agreemen...
characters created to display a woman’s search for a way out of the bonds of her society.
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Terrorism is one of the most extensively discussed issues of our time and at the same time it is also one of the least understood. The term itself “terrorism” means many different things to different people, cultures, and races. As a result, trying to define or classify terrorism with one universal definition is nearly impossible. The definition of terrorism used in this research is a reflection of much of the Western and American way of defining it. The definition of terrorism is,