Townie by Andre Dubus III Essay - 1751 Words

All towns, cities, and areas have their own specific traits. Small towns tend to be more like a family, while big cities tend to be more passive. Then there are the small areas where people do not make much money and struggle to get by. These areas tend to be more violent and more influenced by drugs and alcohol. This is the area that Andre Dubus III grew up in, in his memoir Townie. His parents were divorced and neither of them made much money so he and his two sisters and brother ended up moving from one small crummy neighborhood to another. In these neighborhoods he would get involved in the wrong crowds and end up doing drugs, drinking, and fighting. This became a way to show power. The most powerful people were strong and always came†¦show more content†¦There was on man that was constantly attacking Andre when he was young. This neighborhood thug named Clay had decided that he was going to target Andre and beat him every time that he spotted him. Eventually Andre becam e so sick of this and didn’t have a clue what to do so he called his father. After that his father was able to talk to Clay’s father and have Clay leave Andre alone. After that negotiation Clay and his mother came running out of their house screaming. This and the fact that Clay hired a friend to try and beat Andre instead of himself showed Andre that the only way to settle anything in this environment was to use a fist. Eventually Andre decided that he need learn how to fight. This came from a need to prove himself. Not to anyone else, but to himself. He felt like he had let his family and himself down and he needed to fix that. This came to him after he witnessed his brother brutally beaten in front of him. He went inside and looked in the mirror and said to himself â€Å"I don’t care if you get your face beat in. I don’t care if you get kicked in the head or stabbed or even shot. I will never allow you not fight back ever again. You hear me? Ever. Not once, ever, again,† (Dubus 82). This was the real turning point for Andre. This was when his self-loathing had hit such a low that he had nowhere to go but up. This was when he started to train. This was when he started to become violent. He started by simply working out for