Scorpions (Post #1)

“If there was any one thing that Jamal could do, it was draw. He liked to draw and he liked to paint. Maybe for Christmas he would ask Mama to buy him some real paints, not the watercolors that you got at McCrory’s… “You need your butt beat so bad you can’t wait, huh?” Jamal said. “You look like a frog,” Dwayne said. “Anytime you feel like a frog, just leap on over here, ‘cause I got something for you.” Dwayne looked around to see who was looking at him, saw Billy Ware watching them, and grinned. Dwayne made Jamal feel small inside” (20-22).

As the author talks about the main character, Jamal, being a good artist, I start to picture a nice, good natured boy. For example, when the author says Jamal wanted real paints for Christmas instead of watercolors. I can see Jamal being the helpful son and good student in school. However, this image is forgotten when the author talks about how Jamal is late to class and doesn’t do his homework. Now, I start to see a bad kid looking for trouble. As the story continues, Jamal gets into an argument with another student. I’m not really sure what kind of kid Jamal is until the author says, “Dwayne made Jamal feel small inside.” It’s sappy I know, but it relates to a lot of kid in school and how they feel when they get picked on. I now see Jamal as the kid just trying to fit in. Although he stirs up trouble sometimes, he is typically a good kid.
I though I see Jamal as typically a good kid, I see him going down a bad road. Jamal says a lot of people make him feel small and weak, and he can’t do anything about it. Seeing as the Scorpions, the name of the book, are a gang, I think he will go to the Scorpions for protection.