Grillo changes significantly throughout the story Always Running. His first sign of change begins when he encounters “ Thee Mystics ”. Thee Mystics were a group of Misguided, violent teens who left their mark in the form of bullets on the unsuspecting Elementary School Grillo attended, and in the mist of terror the boy who had previously only known the receiving end of fear now wanted to be the one delivering it. We see this to be true in chapter two with this quote (p.42); “I wanted this power. I wanted to be able to bring a whole school to its knees and even make teachers squirm.” With this we see the start of a long and painful path Luis J. Rodriguez has chosen to walk down. We watch as the child who was abused physically …show more content…
It was a jacket I could try to take off, but they kept putting it back on.” Luis felt he couldn’t ever escape the stereotypes that followed him like a plagued so he stopped trying. Instead Grillo allowed himself to be consumed by the horror of the streets, a life of turf battles, hard mind-numbing drugs, alcohol, and free sex. At the age of eleven Luis joined his first gang, a few years later at the age of thirteen he is a pill popping, sexually active delinquent. Luis’ first memory of school wasn’t a good one, in his first elementary class the teacher who was supposed to take him in and teach him, help nurture him, encourage him, and inspire his will to learn did nothing but completely write him off for the simple fact that this child didn’t speak english. She “couldn’t deal with him” so she sat him in a corner and ignored him. The situation was no different when Grillo was sent to another class, yet again he was sat in a corner the only difference this time being that the teacher was a little nicer about telling him he wasn’t wanted. However despite the sweetness she injected into her voice Luis still knew he wasn’t wanted, so due to his mistreatment he became reluctant to talk to anyone; even to ask to go the bathroom. As Grillo got older his outlook on school only got worse, he became a troubled child
During the pinnacle of his bittersweet life, Rodriguez eventually realized that he had sacrificed one of the biggest things in life to do what is best for himself, his family. Being from a different
Within chapter four a reader can see justification for why the novel is titled Always Running. Within the chapter Grillo goes through a difficult time in which we see him try to run away from his problems by attempting to commit suicide. Grillo states that he felt like he was in combat with himself. For example this quote from the books explains how he felt and what was going through his head “Against a dark side, poised for destruction, with death about to tap my shoulder. I tried to commit suicide”(pg.81). Within that night Grillo attempted
The character Luis in the book Catch the Moon changed in many ways when his mom died. One way that he changed was when he started doing dares and went to juvenile detention. This changed Luis because he thought the only way he could get over his mom’s death was by creating a gang. For example, the author states how Luis is escaping from his mother’s death, “Luis thought
Can you imagine having to join a brutal gang for your own safety? That's exactly what Luis Rodriguez had to do. In Always Running Luis shares how his life changed when he had to join a gang for his safety and demonstrates how all the drugs and violence affected both him and his loved ones. In this memoir, Rodriguez shows how his identity and life was affected by the brutal environment of gangs by giving us a peek into the mind of a teenage gang member.
In Grillo's early childhood, he faced many financial problems which impacted him to change and join a gang for financial gain. His parents were constantly working, his mother clean houses and his father was a janitor. They would remain without electricity, one day they decide to go out to eat and Grillo refused to go inside the restaurant. His mother begged him, “No I don't want to go inside, I yelled. And why not? My mother demanded, por el amor de dios aren't you hungry? I pointed a finger to a sign on the door. It read, Come In, Cold Inside”. This quote shows how Grillo to feel weak and in turn prompted him to change and turn to gang activity to make money.
Grillo faced many things throughout his life to become the person he is now. Either good or bad all the changes he went through made a big impact in his life. Within the novel Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez, the main character Grillo changes throughout the story when he uses drugs, friends influence him and family problems are encountered.
One of of Grillos first violents acts was with Tino. So Tino and Grillo were at the park and they were trying to play ball , the park was closed but they hopped the fence either way . Grillo helped Tino jump over fence and then Grillo hopped it after to go play ball.To me this is where he started with his intentions of violents acts, I mean trespassing after hours when your not suppose too, but what can you expect of you’re surrounded by violence and gangs. There's a quote in the book that says “If you ain't from no barrio
In the story Always Running, the main character Grillo changes throughout the story mentally and physically by abusing drugs, joining gangs and his thoughts on education. In the beginning of the story Grillo is just a normal mischievous kid with typical family problems until he gets affiliated with dangerous drugs and changes drastically. One change Grillo Grillo makes in his life is to abuse drugs, he was first introduced to them at age 13.
In Luis J. Rodriguez’s novel, Always Running, there were many scenarios when Grillo’s character changes throughout the story. These changes include joining a gang, dropping out of high school and drug use. He hit rock bottom in his life by surrounding himself with the wrong people, causing traumatic situations to now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Also to always take the opportunity to make your life happy. The reason why I say this is because the way that Luis never had motivation in himself to go back to school because he had a feeling that he was going to get into fights. For example Luis says, “Nobody supported me; my family thought I had gone crazy. They thought, you crazy gangster, you crazy drug addict, now you want to be a writer? That's it! They totally gave up on me after that”(Rodriguez). This quote shows how Luis wasn’t able to get the support from his parents. When he was in high school he was afraid of failing by himself, but in reality he was able to become as an activist and motivational person that made him change his life by becoming as a better person. Also by making a good decision by leaving his gang and by choosing the right path by going to
Grillo felt the need to turn to gangs and his whole life changed. For example , “ It was something to belong to - something that was ours”
Rodriguez was torn apart his “private” life and his “public” life. Private as in referring to the language spoken and home and the Spanish heritage at home. Public as in referring to his quite life at school where Rodriguez was intimidated by “high syllables” and the way people talked fast English. This quote illustrated how the need of
Eventually Richard Rodriguez develops bitterness towards his parents. For being uneducated and ignorant, His thirst for knowledge has transformed him into someone who holds a distain for those without knowledge or esteem. Then he transforms into someone who feels guilt over his success. His family life has turned into an atypical situation where there is very little closeness between him and the other members of his family. This is caused by his increasing want to distance himself from what he believes to be uneducated.
The particular focus of Rodriguez’s story is that in order to feel like he belonged to the “public society” he had to restrict his individuality. Throughout his story, Rodriguez discussed such topics as assimilation and heritage. He goes into depth about the pros and the cons of being forced to assimilate to the American culture. Growing up Hispanic in America was a struggle for Rodriguez. This was due to the fact that he was a Spanish-speaking boy living in an English-speaking society, and he felt like he was different than the other children. Rodriguez writes, “I was fated to be the ‘problem student’ in class” (Rodriguez 62). This is referring to Rodriguez’s improper knowledge of English. It made him stand out as the kid that was behind. He wanted to find the balance between the public and private face. He believed both were important to develop. As I read this story it changed the way I looked at people who speak different languages, and how it must be hard to fit in with society if you are not all fluent in English.
membership into a cartel. The final thing I learned from El Narco is how the drug legalization