Brent Staples' A Brother's Murder
A belief I feel very strongly about proposes that all problems faced by our society have solutions. If this belief is true, why do problems still face us today? The answer could be a result of either laziness by the people in our society in finding these solutions or just the fact that there are too many problems to solve. Maybe this belief I have is too far out of reach to be true.
On the other hand, Brent Staples, a well-respected writer, seems to share this idea with me. In his works, he displays a great deal of motivation to solve particular problems faced by society. In "A Brother's Murder," he uses a personal account of murder within the streets caused by social placement to illustrate the problem within the lower class. After reading this article, I questioned the stability of our society, and the overall severity of this problem of murder in the streets.
The inner streets of our nations' cities have, over the years, proven to be war zones. Gangs are roaming the streets to protect their territory, making gunplay an everyday task. The smell of fear, death, and misguided souls reek to the nose of the onlooker. Brent Staples does an outstanding job of describing the severity of these problems. His brother, Blake, leads a life molded by this street life. His official cause of death was murder. However, at the young age of twenty-two years old, they should have noted h...
Staples, Brent. “Black Men and Public Space.” Reading Critically, Writing Well. Sixth edition Eds. Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002. 134-136. Print.
Living in fear and trying to survive to be last man standing is a way of living in many cities around the country. In a world where men have to wear their manhood on their sleeves and solving their problem with violence, lives are not as meaningful. In “My brother’s murder” the author Brent Staples narrates the story of how his brother Blake choses to be part of this violence to survive in a dangerous neighborhood in which they were both raised. These decisions leaded to his early death at only 22 years old. Blake could of leave the toxic environment, chose a different lifestyle, or accept his brother help when he offered. All the differences decisions he could of take instead of following the violence path could have save his life, making him responsible for his own death
of our happiness, and Lasn feels that plentitude is our problem. We have the ability
Kevin Neal terrified a California community when he turned into a enraged shooter by loading himself up with two handguns and a semiautomatic rifle, taking aim at seven locations, including an elementary school.
What would you think if you found a body in your neck of the woods that was missing all its legs and arms? They identified two of the murders but over twelve were found and some say this may have been as high as twenty. The murders happened in Cleveland Ohio on a road called Kings Barry Run. “More than 80 years later, the identity of the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run remains one of Cleveland’s greatest mysteries.” “Some people called it the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Road’’. Seven men and five women were killed. Two people were identified as Florence G. Polillo and Edward Andrassy. No others were identified. Some think he is still out there wanting to kill more people. Murders took place in 1935-1938 the people were murdered and dismembered.
All in all, people generally face the same kinds of struggles, whether we live in the Illinois Valley, 2015, or halfway across the world, 20 centuries ago. Trying to accomplish our goals and prosper in our own worlds is merely what we are doing, despite the fact that we are living very different lives and have very different
a better way of life - but something always seems to get in the way of
This also states that others encounter problems as well when they look into the future and try to make plans. Others as well, find that their planning might be futile and fruitless as time goes on.
We find that the more cultivated reason devotes itself to the aim of enjoying life and happiness, the further does man get away from true contentment. . . . because after calculating all the advantages they derive, ... they yet find that they have in fact only brought more trouble on their heads than they have gained in
We, the people, take such things for granted. We also discourage some behavior, such as
There is a big contradiction between what people think they need and what they want. We think there’s no specific guidelines to tell us which is which. It is all based off our own viewpoint. Getting the 2 confused which has happened to everyone at some point, can lead to countless different kinds of disasters. The question is to do learn from it or run from it? We can become so addicted to our possessions of this world that we forget what’s really important in the end.
But what if I were to tell you there is a solution to most if not all of these issues?
Here in the United States, everybody are busy. Either busy with family or work. In fact, I can barely take a nap. Life is
I feel that the reason is mainly in our education. It is a wonder but true that we have started believing that we being intellectuals, need no rules to be laid down for us, and do not need any discipline. The