Paper #2: Innocence and Freedom For All

Innocence and Freedom for All


“He turned seventeen, an event he scarcely noticed… The headaches, like a wrecking ball working on his skull, came less often, replaced by the endless tolling in his mind of the word murderer. Everyone knew. He refused to go to school and made arrangements to finish his class work at home. He disliked being seen in his neighborhood, where the glances he drew were too long or too short. Among strangers he felt no less an outcast, their blind assumption that he was one of them making him wince inside. He studied their carefree innocence with envy: an old woman reading on a bench in a mall, a baby sleeping in a stroller, a pretzel seller joking with a customer. He was no longer of their kind and never would be.”

Brent is a high school student that recently moved to the city of Chicago. One night, he attends a party with a friend and lets loose. But when they arrive they realize their clothing isn’t the same as those around them: black and white. Later on they finally find out that they’re reenacting chess pieces. Brent sees an opportunity to talk to the girl of his dreams: Brianna. When the rejection was loud enough for everyone to hear, they all join in to tease him in some way. He felt humiliated and embarrassed in front of his peers. Thus, he jots straight to his car in attempt to get away from the problem. On the way home, he begins to think how he has the power over his life and how he does not need to go through how he is feeling anymore. The way to get there was to take his life. He eventually lets the steering wheel go with everything being a blur. His alcohol blood level was .11, he was charged with DUI and manslaughter. As it turns out, Brent continues to breathe, while an innocent girl named Lea is not.

This excerpt out of the book is significant because it lets the readers to an insight on to what the character is experiencing emotionally. And it’s important for the readers to relate to the situation and acknowledge how the character feels. Also, this is significant because he had a hard time dealing with emotions previously. So how does it feel to be put back into society when ultimately you killed someone? It seems as if he hides from those he knows in shame. When he is outside, those who walk by suppose of him as someone with innocence but in actuality they are truly mistaken about that. Brent feels as if he isn’t even worthy of breathing the same air as them. High school as well is something everyone can relate to, especially being victimized of gossip or accusations and killing someone can stir up quite a bit of controversy. Imagine parents of students at school want him removed from high school for the sake of their child’s safety as well as the communities. Everyone sees everything differently, whether or not it was an accident, the bottom line is that this boy had killed someone.

The last two lines in the paragraph above is very crucial “He studied their carefree innocence with envy: an old woman reading on a bench in a mall, a baby sleeping in a stroller, a pretzel seller joking with a customer. He was no longer of their kind and never would be.” Our rights and innocence are highly valued in America. We have the freedom of doing whether we want, when we want as long as we abide by laws. From the simplest thing of walking outside is liberal. Although it may seem that walking is a foolish thing to take advantage of, people behind bars envy that freedom that they once had. The last line is harsh to swallow. Brent maybe not reach the height he was at before, but he can redeem himself. People have been accepted back into the community, despite their wrongdoing and past.

Later on in the book, Brent finally talks to Lea’s parents and sincerely apologizes for what happened. The only thing they ask of him is to make four whirligigs and place them in the four corners of the United States: Washington, California, Florida, and Maine. His parents think of the request as ridiculous, and want a different atonement. Brent intervened before they could push any farther, stating that he will complete the task. Lucky for him, Lea’s mother gave him an unlimited bus pass to travel all over the country. This gives him the hope for a better future, and maybe, just maybe he can learn to forgive himself.