ipl-logo

How Is The Last Spin Becoming An Individual In An Unlikely Culture

911 Words4 Pages

Caroline Hinrichs Mr. Guastella English Honors 3 December 2014 “The Last Spin”: Becoming An Individual in an Oppressive Culture “The Last Spin” is a realistic and touching story about 2 boys involved in gangs in new York and how they develop an unlikely friendship under dangerous circumstances. Tigo and Dave are two young teens involved in opposing gangs, or “clubs.” Each of them is sent to a basement room one night to settle a dispute between their clubs. They are instructed to play a morbid game- put one bullet in a 6-cylinder gun, spin the barrel, and shoot at themselves, not knowing if the gun will fire a bullet or not. As the game continues and they up the odds by putting more and more bullets in the gun, they find they have more in common …show more content…

As they get to know each other better over the course of “The Last Spin” the characters Tigo and Dave admit to each other that they feel out of place in their respective clubs, something they each haven’t felt comfortable sharing before. When Dave asks Tigo “You like the guys on your club?”(Hunter 8) Tigo responds that “None of them really send me, but that’s the club on my block, so what’re you gonna do, huh?”(8) Tigo admits that he doesn’t really enjoy being in the club, or like the people in it, but he feels like he can’t do anything about it. It is implied that not taking part in the club isn’t even an option for him, and he can’t make his own choice about how he wants to live his life. Tigo feels that he can’t be an individual and be part of a culture at the same time. Being part of a gang, even if you feel you can’t be yourself in it, seems inescapable to Tigo and …show more content…

As Tigo and Dave talk more, they realize that they have a lot in common and decide to defy their clubs, stop the gun game, and make plans to hang out later, despite the fact that they are supposed to be enemies. “‘Screw the clubs!’ Tigo said vehemently. ‘Can’t we pick our own….friends?’” (Hunter 12) Tigo complains to Dave: “ Don’t you wonder what you’re doing stomping some guy in the street? ...Like-who’s the guy to you? What you got to beat him up for?”(9) He realizes that his morals are different than those of his club, and he doesn’t really believe in what the club does. When the boy make plans to “..go to the lake this Sunday?”(12) they decide to become friends even if it means defying their gangs. The main characters realize how they as individuals are different from those around them, and act accordingly. The choices that Tigo and Dave make as they decide what is most important to them shows that being an individual means following you own path, even when it conflicts with your

Show More
Related
1265 Words | 6 Pages

John Singleton’s film, Boyz N the Hood, displays the challenging upbringing of adolescents who have to live with harsh conditions around not only their home but also their surrounding town. The film compares the differences between the lifestyles of Tre Styles and his friends’, Darren and Ricky Baker. Darren and Ricky are half-brothers who are nothing alike. Singleton demonstrates the importance of male leadership in a home in the ghetto of Los Angeles by comparing the difference between the lifestyles of Tre and his friends. While many adolescents in the hood have close friendships, some form close relationships by assembling gangs and create a world of violence due to alcohol abuse, which together ultimately breeds discrimination.

Read More
696 Words | 3 Pages

In the essay, “A History of Violence”, the author Segun Akinsanya reveals information about his childhood explaining his troublesome life. He goes into detail on how he contributed to the downfall throughout his youth years. Segun was influenced by many factors that caused the negative outcome throughout his childhood, such as, the negative contributions from family, the instability of his child and teenage years, and his own struggle to find his identity of self-worth. Segun’s family played an immense part, they contributed to the negative actions throughout his life, he honestly didn’t have any family support or stability.

Read More
1115 Words | 5 Pages

Robert Newton’s novel The Black Dog Gang, analyses the life of a group of children living in the Rocks, Sydney in the 1900’s. Through the protagonist, Newton shows us the hardships that families often experienced and overcame thanks to friendship and loyalty. For the duration of the book, Frankie Maguire, Mickey Collins & Gordon McCallister show that they are true loyal friends to each other and the rest of the gang. Frankie consistently shows friendship and loyalty, whereas Mickey, with a very strong soul, is loyal to those who he considers honourable.

Read More
871 Words | 4 Pages

John Knowles, author of A Separate Peace, uses both character development and setting to support his decision in selecting the title. He uses the main characters of Gene and Phineas (Finny) and their troubled yet deeply bonded friendship as a way to illustrate the separate peace that takes place both within the boys themselves and in the friendship that is built between the two. Knowles also uses the setting of the novel to demonstrate the vast difference between the peaceful Devon School grounds and the war raging outside of the school’s walls. The title, A Separate Peace, as chosen by the author is symbolic of the main characters, Finny and Gene’s, struggle to find peace within themselves and with each other while set in a place that significantly contrasts the events of the real world.

Read More
659 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel That was Then This is Now by S.E. Hinton, Bryon and Mark are best friends, so much so that they live together. As they are getting older they are starting slip away from each other. Even though they are trying to stay together, one decision that Byron makes drifts them away forever. The point is that they have some similarities and differences. Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.

Read More
719 Words | 3 Pages

When involved in a gang you feel there is no way out, nobody understands your struggle and your chances of dying is 60% more than the average person. It is important to reach out to the youth and Art Rodriguez has done a great job contributing to that cause. The gang life I can relate too. In my experience and in the music that the older homies use to influence their young recruits always explain the struggle that once you are in there is no way out.

Read More
481 Words | 2 Pages

The article “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out” by Guy Martin, researches the story of several New York High Schools, participating in an end of year activity that is involved with mediocre violence, made for kids to have some fun with their town, and their classmates. These role playing games are very beneficial for students to participate in, because they teach kids that team work, and extraordinary skills are needed to “survive”. Role playing games with simulated violence are diverting for kids, because they teach and allow kids to be boisterous. The game allows the students to plan, organize, and concoct a plan, for a game that involves nearly the whole city and school. As seniors in highschool prepare for graduation and adulthood, this game gives them the freedom to be kids again.

Read More
948 Words | 4 Pages

The protagonist’s character evolves all through the story. First, he is committed to being the lifestyle of being bad and is a rebel of everything that is considered traditional. The protagonist begins to contemplate his actions once he realizes the magnitude of the

Read More
747 Words | 3 Pages

The story “Me And Earl And The Dying Girl” by Jesse Andrews takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The time setting is in the year 2011 nearing the end of the school year and main characters, Gregory Gaines, Earl Jackson, and Rachel Kushner are all in their senior year at Benson High School. The setting differentiates the character’s personality by separating them by social class. Author illustrates Rachel and Gregory living in a middle class home in a quiet neighborhood in the town area they live in. However, Earl lives in a dangerous and unkept part of the city that characterizes him and his family as dangerous people because of their semi-economic disadvantage.

Read More
1244 Words | 5 Pages

The novel A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan, brushes upon various problems that each character endures during their lifetime. Although these issues vary from each chapter, a few issues tend to correlate with one another. In the novel A Visit from the Goon Squad, the chapter “Good-bye, My Love” conveys the idea that desires are conflicting and often obscure your psyche. Whereas “The Gold Cure” transmits the idea that a consistent life is most desirable because change is feared.

Read More
603 Words | 3 Pages

In this book report I will talk about the book “The outsiders” written by S.E. Hinton, I will do a review of the story, the point of view, theme, symbols and my opinion about this book I really liked to read for the English class. The story is about a boy named Ponyboy who lived in a small town in Texas with his two brothers Darry and Sodapop were a gang war was taking place between two different social class people: The Socs and the Greasers. Ponyboy will learn the consequences bad acts can bring to your life in the middle of a gang war. The greasers were a middle class and not so social kind of people who liked to get in trouble and The other gang The Socs were a most of them a high class or middle-high class group of people who where they went they will always go in groups of like three or four people.

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

Based on the novella The Body by Stephen King, Stand By Me is a wonderfully directed screenplay that tells of four boys - Gordie, Chris, Vern, and Teddy - who go out into the woods to look for the body of their fellow classmate Ray Brower. From dodging bullies, firing a gun, camping out, and running on train tracks, the boys are given challenges that they are able to overcome. Throughout the movie, director Rob Reiner uses a myriad of sociological techniques that opens the viewer 's eyes to the problems society still faces today. After watching the movie, you begin to question the past and the present and you see how much has changed between the two time periods. Stand By Me is a movie of self-purpose and determination; of friendship and staying

Read More
731 Words | 3 Pages

Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl is a movie that reflects the value of friendship during tough social situations. The movie portrays several inferences and levels of the made up friendship between the main characters Greg and “the dying girl” Rachel during her struggle with cancer and the friendship between the two senior students in the same high school Greg and Earl. Both of Greg and Earl craft short films during their senior year in high school, yet they refuse to publish them or give a copy to anyone up until the part in the movie in which Greg life changes because he develops a friendship with a girl with leukemia named Rachel and the other part where Earl publicizes the films he did with Greg to Rachel. In this film, Greg faces many difficult situations because he was forced to do things that

Read More
1639 Words | 7 Pages

3. In terms of rising action, climax, and falling action, describe the structure of the plot, stating when the action stops rising and reaches a climax and begins to fall. Rising Action: It started one night when Margo sneaks into Quentin’s room. Since then, Quentin follows Margo on her adventurous mission for revenge of her boyfriend cheating.

Read More
1029 Words | 5 Pages

Lulu Asselstine Mrs. Olsen LA 8 5 November, 2017 Stereotypes and Perspectives When looking at a bunch of bananas in a grocery store, people tend to choose the perfect spotless bananas, since stereotypically food that is perfect looking, with no flaws, taste better. However, people soon realize that when you start to eat bananas that have more spots and are imperfect they turn out to be sweeter and better. This connects to stereotypes because people who follow stereotyped will always eat the perfect bananas; however, people who choose to look through another perspective can realize that the imperfect bananas are better. This connects to The Outsiders because Ponyboy realizes this after he talks with two Socs, kids from a rival group named Randy and Cherry. In The Outsiders, S.E Hinton presents the idea that teenagers can break through stereotypes if they look at life through another perspective; as shown in the book when Ponyboy starts to talk to Cherry and Randy and realizes the stereotypes about them are false.

Read More

More about How Is The Last Spin Becoming An Individual In An Unlikely Culture

Related Topics

Open Document