Raw by Scott Monk

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Raw by Scott Monk Brett holds a rebellious attitude and has certain negativity towards authority; this is expressed in his attitude towards the police at the start of the novel and the use of the dialogue "pigs". They capture Brett after a bungled robbery and he is taken from Sydney to a juvenile detention centre in Mungindi run by Sam and Mary Fraser. Brett Dalton is the individual we see the institution have major effects on, it changes his life, attitudes and morals.

Brett's attitudes towards authority are made very clear, the book is written in 3rd person, but through Brett's perspective this allows us to understand his individual opinions and also allows us too see his change in perspectives due to his institutionalization

"To Brett, Sam was everything he resented here, the more he tried to change him, the more Brett would resist, Brett wasn't going to follow any rules or become the mans buddy like any of the other losers, he was happy with who he was and how he lived. He would beat the system before it beat him. In the end Brett would win."

The irony of this attitude is that so long as Brett retains it, he will be the loser

Conversations between Brett and other characters are much more emotionally charged in dialogue form than they would be if Monk had merely described them.

‘Get out'

‘Why should I?'

‘I said get out!'

‘Make me!'

At the beginning of the novel Brett has trouble taking responsibility for his actions, we see...

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... the street, and off the drugs. This institution is known as YOTS. The institution aims to take kids who are below society's regular standard and bring up with everyone else to give them a chance in life. The staff at YOTS and other institutions similar take a "firm but gentle approach to helping the kids" this approach is very similar to that of Sam's in Raw. The article uses dialogue from the kids that have been in the institution to show us their attitudes toward the program "You do leave here with a feeling of great accomplishment" and one of the comments strikes a comparison between the police in the novel raw and the police in the article "The police see you and think he is nothing but a street kid" they don't see them as individuals, similar to the way the police treat Brett at the beginning of the Novel "Raw."

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