Dear Justice By Nic Stone

“I thought killing those fools would make me feel good, but it really didn't make me feel anything. I just knew that I could kill somebody, and if I had to, I could do it again”(Caine from Menace ll Society). This quote is a prime example of how physical and mental conflict shapes a person mentally by making them tougher but weaker at the same time. In the book Dear Justice by Nic Stone, conflicts because it makes them stronger, but also damages people’s emotions, and shows the lack of support in his life. Physical conflict has a significant impact on how tough and mentally and physically strong you are. While Quan was reflecting on his childhood, "My dad used to whip me with a belt so hard I’d pass out. "(Stone 49)" - "Stone 49" This type of trauma shaped his perspective on life and actions by normalizing violence and being more violent as a person throughout the book.

Quan faces danger a lot throughout the book and this causes his emotions to be damaged. He says, "The fact that folks who were supposed to look out for me didn’t was supposed to be some sort of joke, right? I mean, who didn’t know how to look out for themselves? "(Stone 89) This shows us how he feels abandoned and very unprotected, which causes Quan mental distress. Quan ends up in many terrible street situations without anyone to watch over him, which leads to him being damaged mentally due to these violent confrontations. Quan's lack of support is noticeable from the beginning of his life as he reflects on his rough childhood from going to juvenile to being in a violent lifestyle. I ain't had nobody to teach me right from wrong. Nobody to keep me in line when I stepped out of it" (Stone 22). This lack of guidance and support in Quan's childhood led him to be with negative people in life, for an example is when he joined a gang for a sense of belonging to