Summary Of Alien Turf By Piri Thomas

In the short story “Alien Turf” by Piri Thomas the theme is about Piri’s identity and discrimination because when Piri moved to the a new neighborhood on a Italian block on 114st. Piri tries to fit in but it is difficult for him. The Italians was being mean and racist to Piri and they called him names all the time. “Sometimes you don't fit in”. The reader wants me to know that it refers to life in general. (Thomas, 1) The author uses figurative language by referring to “Border” crossed is an example of symbolism because it connects to Pri’s identity. Piri had to move to another block because his baby brother passed away and because his father wanted to get Piri Momma away from what happen to Richardo to forget about it. “After my new baby brother, Ricardo, died of some kind of germs, Poppa moved us from 111th Street to Italian Turf on 114 Street between Second and Third Avenue.”(Thomas ,1) “ I guess Poppa wanted to get Momma away from the hard memories of the old pad.” (Thomas,

This connects to the claim because it shows why Piri move into another neighborhood. Piri fights the one of the Italian boys and remembered about what his father told him if Tony had sniffed . He told him to run fast or just fight like crazy., for example“and I remembered Poppa telling me, “Son, if your ever fighting somebody and you punch him in the nose, and he just blinks an sniffs without holding his nose, you can do one of the things fight like hell or run like hell---’because that cat’s a fighter” (Thomas, 9). Piri is not afraid of the Italian boys anymore because he can stood up to them for his nationality to realize that he is not a “spic” the word that the Italian boys used to call him. Piri went through all the obstacles that went his way and succeeded to his