Javeon Lane
Mrs. Hughes
ALA 8
4 May 2016
Terribly Tragic Story Far too much death can be caused over something as trivial as a city block. West Side Story, released in 1961, starts in the middle of a conflict between an American gang known as the Jets and a Puerto Rican gang known as the Sharks. Tony, previous leader of the Jets, falls in love with a Shark girl named Maria. Riff, leader of the Jets, and Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, plan a large gang fight in an attempt to win control over the city block. During the fight, Bernardo kills Riff and Tony kills Bernardo. At the end, Chino (another shark) kills Tony in front of Maria. The true tragedy of West Side Story is when Tony stabs and kills Bernardo, but the Jets, Sharks, and society all assisted in some way.
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Tony went to the planning, and he thinks that he has changed the fight from one with weapons to one using fists. Instead of following the safer plan, the Jets and the Sharks both bring knives to the fight in an attempt to surprise the opposing gang. Because of a desire from the two gangs to win the fight Bernardo stabs Riff, enraging Tony and driving him to stab Bernardo. Both Riff and Bernardo die during the fight. If the Jets and Sharks didn’t bring weapons, nobody would have died. Some may say that Tony indirectly causes the gangs to bring the knives due to his suggestion of the fistfight, but it is possible that they would have brought deadly weapons even if the fight was not a