The Flowers Rough Draft

Londa McDonald                                                                                                                         

Stacey Knapp

English 1B

March 7, 2011

            In the novel The Flowers by Dagoberto Gilb, the author tells a story about a teenage boy. This teenage boy is named Sonny. Sonny’s life is a little different than most teenagers like me.  The family he comes from has complicated his life at a young age. He runs into many different and difficult obstacles in this novel. From start to finish, everything that has happened to Sonny makes him into the teenage boy he has grow up to become.

            From the very beginning, Sonny has lived with his mother Sylvia and his sister Ceci. Unlike my life at home, Sonny doesn’t have a father figure in his life. His relationship with his mother has never been strong. Sonny tells us “It was that my mom, if she wasn’t at her job, was out on dates and whatever” (5). He never relied on anyone but himself. Sonny states “. . . I made my own dinner and lunch and did my shit without nobody” (5). The household I lived in was much different. I lived with both my parents and my brother. I had my parents to rely on for mostly everything. Since my brother and I are very close, I also had him to go to.  Unlike Sonny, I had it easy while Sonny had to become independent at an early age.

            Sonny also came from a household that was pretty violent for a child. His mother Sylvia would “. . . go after Ceci with belts or wooden hangers or whatever was near” (5). After his sister was old enough to move out, she took off and left the lonely house to Sonny. To live in a household like that is a very hard environment to live in. No one likes to be alone. The household I live in was a loving and a caring one. I had my family together, no one abandoned me. For Sonny, all I think he is looking for is someone to notice him. He is looking for someone to be there for him and love him for who he is.

            When his mother marries Cloyd, Sonny is moved into a new environment. He moves into an apartment complex and is surrounded by all the tenants.  Sonny gets involved with them and builds good and bad relationships. His relationships with Pink and Cindy aren’t the best. None of them have a good influence of him.  My childhood life was the opposite.  I was surrounded by positive people who wanted to guide me in the right direction. Sonny just goes with the flow and he can’t really trust anyone around him.

            The two people who lead him down the wrong path are Pink and Cindy. Pink offers a Bel Air to Sonny if she spies on Cloyd for him. Pink confronts Sonny telling him “. . . all I need is you to listen for me is all . . . I’m speaking of your stepdad” (139). Pink has got Sonny against Cloyd, when Sonny is living under his roof. Sonny’s relationship with his stepdad is already not so great, and eavesdropping isn’t going to help him.

            Sonny’s relationship with Cindy is very sexual. There is no real connection. Cindy is lonely and hooks onto Sonny. Cindy wines to him saying “You don’t know how much I hate being by myself, I can’t” (125). The reason Sonny keeps going back to her is because it’s something for him to do to stay away from Cloyd.  While she wants more from him, Sonny feels the need to back off. 

            Pink and Cindy guide this teenage boy in the wrong direction. With them in Sonny’s life, he just keeps making bad decisions that will lead him into trouble. He has no guidance from anyone.  With no father and his mother always being gone, he just takes whatever is in front of him. Just like a teenager, Sonny lives his life in the moment.

            From the beginning, Sonny has had a stealing habit. He steals from people who don’t appreciate what they have. Sonny states “It was sitting there in his truck...Almost lost in a pile of receipts…” (49). Sonny also steals out of anger. He got accused of stealing Gina’s magazines. After  being accused thoughts run through his head “I wanted to steal something” (122). His anger is so strong that he shows it off so people think he is tough. For being so young he has a lot of anger inside him. When I was almost sixteen I didn’t use anger to strengthen myself. I looked at the positive in life and tried to be the bigger person. If a problem came up I never thought acting out was the answer. I knew it would lead me into trouble. For Sonny that’s all he can do since he has never had anything positive in life.

            In this novel, Sonny finds someone who is worth getting close with. Her name is Nica. Sonny and Nica’s relationship is different from any other relationship Sonny has had with anyone. He day dreams about her and wishes he could be closer with her. Sonny dreams “I wished I could kiss her . . . I was afraid she’d never want to see me again if I tried” (61). He doesn’t want her to runaway so he is taking it slow with her. He wants something that will last and mean something unlike his and Cindy’s relationship.

            Nica is Sonny’s first love. We all have this first experience with someone. For me it didn’t happen when I was as young as Sonny. No matter what age, it’s always a new feeling and you want it to last forever. Sonny takes it slow and tries to buy pizza for her. Sonny asks Nica “What if I buy us a pizza right now?” (95). As things around him get complicated he goes to her more and more. Nica opens up to Sonny about how she wants to run away from her family to Mexico. Nica confesses “I don’t like it here. . . I don’t want to stay now” (236).  Sonny really cares for her and gives all of his money he stole to her.  Sonny tells Nica “You don’t have to worry. . . I have money, it’s your money” (248). With the LA riots erupting, Sonny sacrifices everything for Nica to get away. He wants her to have a better life then what she was living before.  I understand wanting to give everything to a person you love. I have done little things like trying to always protect them or make them happy. It was nothing extreme like what Sonny did for Nica, but just like him I feel the need to do something. Another difficult thing we had to do was let that special person go. Sonny and I both have the strength to let the ones we love go for the better.

            Sonny’s story is filled with anger, independence, violence, sacrifice, love, and hope. He came from a broken family and finally found someone that loves him for who he is. To actually let someone in after being abandoned from most of his family is a miracle. I was born with everything that Sonny wish he had. The thing that connects me and Sonny is that we all wish for that one person or persons who gets who you are. I happened to have it from the start and I also was able to find more people that care for me.  Every struggle he has had to go through lead him to Nica and made him become the person he wants to grow into. Maybe after becoming close to Nica, he will reach out and learn to trust good people that will help him change his ways.

           

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Work Cited

Gilb, Dagoberto. The Flowers. New York: Grove, 2008. Print.