Social Injustice In John Staples A Brother's Murder

608 Words3 Pages

Throughout the story, “A Brother’s Murder”, social injustice and diversity are eminently displayed. But, what is social injustice and diversity? They are the parameters that define the narrator’s brother, Blake. The area of where he lived, socioeconomics, and the lifestyle he lived are what ,truly, led to his death and are mainly the reason for why social injustice is visible. The narrator and his brother, Blake, grew up in such a horrible town and it makes sense that the social injustice was prominent in the town. The town of where they grew up in is described as by the narrator as “We both were raised in Chester, Pennsylvania, an angrily, heavily black, poor, industrial city southwest of Philadelphia” (Staples, 1). Just by the description of the town, we can deduce that the neighborhood is not a great place to live in. Any poor neighborhoods, typically, have very bad living conditions. The people tend to be ill-educated or at lease educated in the wrong values of life. Crime is usually a big issue because people cannot afford to support their families so they resort to committing …show more content…

It became the life for Blake. The narrator describes how “I saw that Blake’s romance with the street life and the hustler image had flowed dangerously” (Staples,2). The gangster life is anything, but safe. These people live a very dangerous life of violent acts. They commit murders and sell drugs. If they don’t like someone, they resort to killing the person because they “messed” with the wrong person. Blake is becoming that person because that is all that is around him. It is his means of making it in the world. People lived in constant fear of being killed day or night. No one should have to life in fear of their life being taken away at any moment. But, the people of the town and Blake don’t know the difference between right and wrong. The gang-lifestyle teaches a much different perspective on what is right and wrong to