Peer Pressure In The Ravine By Graham Salisbury

Have you ever been peer pressured? In “The Ravine” by Graham Salisbury, Vinny, and three others go to a ravine in Hawaii. Two weeks and a day before they went, a boy had jumped, and others said that he died or drowned. Vinny didn’t want to go to the ravine, but his friends had forced him, making him under peer pressure. Vinny and Joe-Boy have some similarities, but they are more different.
Vinny is the main character. Vinny is scared. He doesn’t want to go to the ravine. The text says, “Vinny winced, He didn’t want to be here. It was too soon, way too soon” (Salisbury 4). This text proves that Vinny is scared because his actions show that he’s afraid that he’s going to find the boy’s dead body. Also, Vinny is kind of smart. In the text, it says,

Joe-Boy is rude or mean. Joe-Boy said, “You going jump in the water and go down and your hand going touch his face, stuck under the rocks. Ha ha ha . . . a ha ha!” (Salisbury 4). This shows that Joe-Boy is mean to Vinny. Also, Joe-Boy is bossy. The text says, “‘Come on,’ Joe-Boy said, nudging Vinny from behind. ‘Hurry it up’” (Salisbury 5). This text tells the reader that Joe-Boy was bossing Vinny to jump. Lastly, Joe-Boy is daring. The text states, “Hey, Vinny, watch how a man does it! Look!” (Salisbury 8). This statement shows that Joe-Boy is daring enough to jump from the ledge.
Vinny and Joe-Boy are ‘best’ friends and share some similarities. Vinny and Joe-Boy both went to the Ravine. In the text, it says, “When Vinny and three others drop into the ravine, they entered a jungle thick with tangled trees and rumors of what might have happened to the dead boy’s body” (Salisbury 3). This tells the reader that Vinny and Joe-Boy went to the ravine together. And, Vinny and Joe-Boy take their time. The text says, “They took their time because the hand and footholds were slimy with moss” (Salisbury 5). This shows that Vinny and Joe-Boy take their time climbing the rock