“On The Sidewalk Bleeding” is a short story about a sixteen - year - old boy, Andy, who is dying. Andy lives in New York City, where there are two main rival gangs. There’s Andy’s gang, the Royals, and the Guardians. When he’s out with his girlfriend, Laura, he decides to run to a convenience store a block down to grab some stuff. He never makes it. While on the way, a man, presumably from the Guardians, tries to kill him. This story is about his thoughts before he dies, and how he learns the gang was never really there for him. It doesn’t say why Andy is in the gang, especially at such a young age, but it seems they are the closest thing to family he has. When he wore the purple silk jacket that came with being a Royal, he was proud. He was always proud to have the title. In the end, though, he realizes it’s not really as important as he thinks it is. In fact, it’s the reason he’s lying in an alley covered in his own blood, alone. Everyone only sees him as a Royal, and that’s not a good thing. He decides that even though he was killed as a Royal, he wants to die as Andy. So, before he dies, he uses the last of his strength to take off his jacket, and throw it as far away from him as possible. He …show more content…
Laura had just found out Andy was dead, and you could obviously tell she was hurting. But still, the cop had the disappointment and disgust in his voice that most people probably have when they see a gang member. It doesn’t say much, but at first he checked his life signs, and most likely treated him like anyone else he may find; he was a victim. But as soon as he sees the jacket, it’s not someone who’s lost their life, it’s a gang member. Just because he made a mistake while choosing friends, he now holds the same status they would. He could be a wonderful person who someone preyed on while he was vulnerable, but people assume he is as bad as them. They pay attention to the jacket, not who happens to be wearing
If an individual is familiar with their surrounding “they are more likely to help” (Altruism and Helping Behavior. Print). In the essay, the authors state “the scene of the crime, the streets, in middle class society “represents all the vulgar and perilous in life” (Milgram, Stanley, and Paul Hollander. Paralyzed Witnesses: The Murder They Heard. Print.). In society, the streets, especially at night, represents the dangerous and negative sides of society due to the crimes and chaos that occur on the streets (gangs, drive-by shootings, robberies, murders, large crowds walking, etc.). The crimes and dangers of the streets cause many people to fear being on the streets alone which leads to external conflicts. When the murder was occurring, the witnesses’ attitudes of the streets prevented them from calling the police due to the fear of the streets and since the witnesses were middle-class, they believed that Genovese was poor, a criminal, or someone who has nothing else to do and was expecting for the=is to eventually
The narrator mentions how he's telling a story from the past by saying, “As a teen, I could’ve beamed / the crown, walked in w/out / the beat down custom,”. The author is describing to the reader's how he is telling a story from his past as a teen. He mentions how he could of been in the gang but, choose not to, which wasn't normal at that time. The beat down custom is usually what is suppose to happen. He dodged the custom and choose to avoid the gang through the pressure of his cousin “who claimed Two-Six, / the set on the next block decked in black & beige.” (20-22). With all the influence on his block and from his cousin, he never gave in and never wanted any part of any gang. The narrator was strong enough to resist what everyone around him was doing. It's hard to try to not fit in when everyone around you is doing what your not. I can personally say I wouldn't have the power to do myself but would fall into the gang life due to my surroundings. If my cousin and everyone around me was joining a gang and was a norm at the time, I would also do so. The narrator stood up for what he thought was right and ignored the pressure. The narrator wasn't interested in what he described but, “preferred games to gangs, / books to crooks wearing hats crooked to the left or right” (23-25). Luckily the narrator wasn't interested in gangs but was in games and books. This not only
The movie Gangs of New York takes place in Lower Manhattan’s Five Points’ neighborhood. It begins in 1846. The main protagonist Amsterdam Fallon, Priest Fallon’s son, watches his father who is the leader of the Dead Rabbit gang prepare and die in battle. As his father is on his last breadths of life giving his son counsel, Billy “the Butcher” Cutting snaps the Priest Fallon’s head. Amsterdam runs away from Cuttings henchmen to hide his father’s knife before he is captured by the Natives gang. He is taken to Hellgate orphanage. In 1862 Amsterdam returns to Five Point’s neighborhood and finds his old friend Johnny Sirocco. Johnny works now for Billy “the Butcher” and introduces Amsterdam to Cutting. Amsterdam makes his way into Cutting’s inner circle of Natives. Amsterdam also meets Jenny Everdeane while hanging out with Johnny. She bumps into Johnny to pickpocket his watch. Amsterdam notices and lets Johnny know. Johnny claims he always lets her take things. As both Cutting and Jenny take a liking to Amsterdam Johnny becomes jealous. He notices young Vallon quickly making his way into Cutting’s gang’s high ranks and into Jenny’s heart. Out of jealousy, Johnny reveals Amsterdam’s true identity to Cutting. Cutting decides to make Vallon angry. He succeeds by playing a dangerous game that involves knives with Jenny at the annual celebration of Priests Vallon’s death. Amsterdam then attempts to assassinate Cutting but fails and is taught a lesson by Cutting. Amsterdam lives at the help of Jenny. To avenge his father he starts the outlawed Dead Rabbit gang up again. He proposes a challenge to Cutting after his friend “Monk” McGinn is killed by Cutting. The fight takes place at Five Points’ neighborhood on the day the ...
The people on the streets did not respect him because they didn’t respect a corrupt police officer. Prior to Alonzo being murdered by the Russians, Jake and Alonzo had a fight and Alonzo said the first person to shoot Jake would be a rich man. What did not count on is that nobody wanted to do his dirty businesses because they knew it was wrong. They may have killed but they knew that Jake was not a bad cop because of him fighting Alonzo. They saw that Jake had morals and that trying to run the streets was not right and street justice is not better then court justice. They wanted a cop that would carry out his job the right way and not use his or her authority to overpower those who either are in trouble or those scared of what they could do to them and their families. The government should be able to imposed laws such as murder to be universally wrong. We are human and it is not our job to play God. It is wrong morally and ethical to take someone’s life when there is a better alternative. As a government we need to understand that people see actions differently and that not everything is held as right in one sense. As the legal scholar Joel Feinberg argues, “every community needs certain core moral values by which all of its members should live. These core values are necessary for the well-being of the community and the survival of its members. Outside of these few, basic values, however, communities are made stronger by leaving room for diversity” (Willaims, 2012, pg.81). I think that this statement is very true we cannot be imposing our will on everyone. It is critical to be mindful of those we are viewing and as this movie showed there are basic morals that when broken you lose the respect from
Gangs of New York is a war-packed film directed by Martin Scorsese that takes place in New York during the Civil War. This 2002 film is about a young Irish immigrant, named Amsterdam, who returns to the Five Points to get revenge on William Cutting, a powerful gang leader who murdered his father. One scene that really sticks out within the film occurs during the draft riots that took place in New York. Although this particular scene is historically accurate, there are some parts of the scene itself that seem to have a bigger impact overall. The parts that create this impact show how important this dark period was and how violently this event played out in the real world.
I haven’t lived yet. It seemed very important to him that he take off the purple jacket” (Hunter 6). It is at this point that his character shifts from selfishness to selflessness. It is as if by taking off the jacket Andy is sending a message to others that gangs are not important and that in the end, he did not want to be associated to a gang in his death, he only wanted to be Andy.
The most obvious and simplest struggle in “On the Sidewalk Bleeding” is man vs. man. “He [Andy] had been stabbed ten minutes ago. The knife had entered just below his rib cage and had been drawn across his body violently, tearing a wide gap in his flesh.” This line describes the physical conflicts in “On the Sidewalk Bleeding.” Andy’s struggle with the Guardians involves several fights and rumbles in the past, and is typical of most youth gangs today. At first, Andy believes this will be his only dilemma of the night. “That was a fierce rumble. They got me good that time,” he thinks. At this point, only half an hour before his death, Andy is fully conscious and only worried about the big cut on his stomach that he expects is going to hurt in the morning.
First, Mona’s father wanted her to become a cop when she was young. “I always wanted to be a police officer, m’ija. But someone like me…no, not me, I lack an education. These hands are good only for hard work, yes? But you, someday, you should be a police officer. To show people that Mexicana can do a good job, too. For respect, for honor, for you raza..”(21). Mona’s family moved from Mexico and settled at Santa Ana, CA. City of Santa Ana was dangerous because majority of residents were involved in a gang. Also there were a lot of involvements with police officers. From this circumstance and the situation, Mona’s dad and herself does not want to be involved into this society. Instead, Mona’s dad encouraged her daughter to become a police officer. Also, Mona’s dad identifies a police officer as an a...
The negative views of everyday people often make work hard for officers, adding more stress to their careers. The general public regularly criticizes officers for using excessive force and brutality, especially when a police officer ends up killing a suspect or criminal. Oftentimes, especially when a white police officer shoots a citizen of a minority race, the general public is quick to find faults in the officer, blaming the officer for being racist. However, cold, hard statistics show that the majority of police officers are, in fact, white, and the neighborhoods in which these officers are placed in tend to be high-crime areas with many minority citizens living there (Miller “When Cops Kill”). In addition, people might say that a citizen who was shot was not armed; however, almost anything close to the shot individual could have been turned into a deadly weapon that he or she could have used to wound or kill the officer involved. Whenever officers are in this position, the natural reaction is to defend themselves. Everyday, police officers confront the most aggressive, immoral, and sick-minded individuals of society. Officers jeopardize their own lives every time they report for work. Officers witness things that no person should ever have to encounter. They see the most horrific and gruesome scenes that the general public turns away from and
Geoffrey Canada gives his readers a rare opportunity to look inside the life of a ghetto kid and what they have to go through just to survive. He also provides answers to the many questions asked of why certain things happen the way they do in the Bronx. He used his childhood experiences and turned them into a unique tool when helping the youth of today. Now that he works as a youth councilor he sees that the problem in the slums has gotten dramatically worse with the emergence of guns. It used to be about pride and status, now any thug with a gun can be feared in the community. This, to Canada is a major problem because guns gives kids a sense of power, a strong feeling that is often abused and results in someone, even an innocent person dead.
During the scene with the police lineup, Detective Clay tells a worried and nervous Denise Moore, that she shouldn 't concern herself with testifying because Jesse Williams is most likely going to take a plea deal, and not go to trial. This caused me to realize that an officers has little to no responsibility with ensuring the innocence or guilt of an individual. Their job is to solely remove men and women, that they feel pose a threat to the rest of society, off of the street. In another scene, Detective Riley and the prosecutor for the case are seen revisiting the crime scene, the Detective emphasizes the need for the case not to go to trial, but rather for Jesse to cop a
In the text “The Cop and the Anthem”, Soapy's motivation was ironic which causes the whole plot to be ironic. For Soapy, the prison was all positive, the text had stated, “Three month of food every day and a bed every night, three months safe from the cold north wind and safe from cops. This seems to Soapy the most desirable thing in the world.” For Soapy, the prison will provide what he wants so he does all these criminals acts to get the cop to notice him and arrest him. Most part of the plot was about how Soapy does these criminal acts to get arrested. Most people would want to get out of prison unliked Soapy who would do the opposite, this creates an ironic plot. However, in the text “After Twenty Years”, Bob has a normal reaction toward cops as a normal criminal will react. Bob shows hints of his carefulness around cop. In the text, Bob had stated, “‘It’s all right, officer… It sounds strange to you, doesn’t it? I’ll explain if you want to be sure everything is all right.’” Bob keeps emphasizing how everything is all right but this also shows us Bob’s nervousness about cops. All these details shows us how Bob doesn’t wants to be arrested. Bob has a normal motivation creating a more normal plot compared to the text “The Cop and the
West Side Story tells the tale of a battle between two street gangs in New York, both competing to be the best, while also incorporating the impossible love between two people destined to hate each other, which ends in tragedy. The streets of New York are ran by an American gang
In “All American Boy”, Rashad’s father shares a tragic memory when he was in the police force and shot an innocent unarmed black boy and paralyzed him from the waist down based on appearance. The goal by sharing the story to Rashad is that it’s a very hard job being a cop because you are being put in difficult situations which could lead to being killed. For instance, Mr. Butler says “Thing is, I had been in so many other situations where things had gotten crazy. A hand goes in a pocket and out comes a pistol or a blade. And all I could think about was making it home to you, Spoony, and your mother. It’s a hard job, a really hard job, and you can never understand that. You could never know what it’s like to kiss your family good-bye in the
First, the exposition of this story starts with the narrator who discovers Sonny in the newspaper for using and selling heroin. As he reads the paper on the subway he couldn’t believe what he had read. This made him reminisce the days that