Violence In Free Lunch, By Rex Ogle

Briefly, almost everyone in life experiences violence that can get out of hand and really hurt someone, mentally and physically. In Free Lunch, by Rex Ogle, Ogle descriptively tells the readers his past life and how he lived through violence for a very long time. His family doesn’t have enough money to afford new clothes, food, or even just laundry detergent to wash the clothes. Rex got signed up for the Free Lunch Program by his mom without knowing. Rex feels embarrassed when he walks through the lunch line because he doesn’t want people to know he gets his lunch for free because his family can’t afford to pay two dollars for each meal. At home, Rex has to watch and what his mom and step dad, Sam, fight every night. Rex has to take care of his baby brother, Ford, when his parents fight so Ford doesn’t think they are hurt. In Free Lunch, Ogle uses his past to symbolize violence.

To describe how Rex felt, he thought to himself that he is scared and doesn’t know what is going to happen next. “I close the door just in time, so we didn’t have to see what comes next. Even behind the thin, plastic door, we can still hear it, feel it. Hear the brawl, the screams turning into thuds and gasps for air. Feel the floor vibrations of wrestling and kicking, someone trying to hold their ground, and failing. Feel two bodies crash to the floor, and hear a woman's voice wail in pain. And even though it’s so quiet, even twenty feet away, I know the sound of air moving aside as a fist comes down, again and again.”(45) This description of Free Lunch shows that violence can get out of hand and really hurt someone, mentally and