Down These Mean Streets Part II: Conversion


There is so much to think about with the second part of this book. It is difficult to analyze knowing that it is an autobiography, for what we are reading is part someone’s life. The author’s Afterword is very interesting, and I believe it has a really different tone than the actual work. I re-read the prologue and it seems as they oppose one another. Where the afterword is provides a hopeful tone, the prologue ends and exhibits with a grim reality. One is different from the other due to the Piri’s “conversion” in the second part of the novel.

I found the whole of the second part to be one long search. Piri is in search of his truth, his identity, his place in the world. It took being incarcerated for him to realize where he belonged. Up until his time in jail, his hate for the world, his circumstances just kept growing. We see this in his act of “revenge” with a “white broad” where he uses his Spanish language to get into a house that forbade black people and at the end of his revealing his identity as if he was some kind of monster. We see the same act of hate towards his father’s mistress whom he discovers to be white, shredding her photograph to bits. Mixed with the grief he had for his mother’s death we see that he completely despises his father. When his father confronts him Piri speaks back at him emulating a southern drawl. His father keeps showing his denial of his colour. This is how Piri leaves, and “losing” his family spirals him into an addiction (ch.21). From there he becomes a drug dealer. Then joins a gang, which blows over the top in his shooting a cop. Going to prison allowed him to acquire a different perspective on life. He starts referring the outside as the “freeside” and yearns for a break of routine. What I find interesting is that when living life on the “freeside” there is a routine to uphold as well. What is the difference between prison and the freeside when his life in Harlem had been a set of several prisons as well? Drugs, gang life, thieving, etc. When we reach this sort of impasse, that is where a conversion comes about. That is what religion did for Piri in prison. The kink is that race, identity, drugs had been for Piri were unknotted in this climax of his story.

In the Afterword Piri Thomas mentions that “children become what they are taught or not taught; children become what they learn or don’t learn”. I think this Afterword is an answer to the plea the author makes in his prologue. An answer that came much later in his life. I think we can attribute many failures to ignorance. Especially when it comes to matters of conscience, justice, and most importantly one’s own identity. I think this adds on to the duality we find in the book of light and dark: white vs. black, truth vs. ignorance, dream vs. reality. Denial further deepens the pit of ignorance, at some point we need to face the truth, and I believe this novel is a really good example of that. Furthermore considering the theme of conversion, we can attribute it as a general kink of the novel for its very definition according to cambridge dictionary is "the process of converting something from one thing to another". Maybe Piri is a kink among his friends and family from Harlem for "A lot of my boys were either hollowed-out junkies or in prison(...)" (p.321).

Down These Mean Streets Part II: Conversion


There is so much to think about with the second part of this book. It is difficult to analyze knowing that it is an autobiography, for what we are reading is part someone’s life. The author’s Afterword is very interesting, and I believe it has a really different tone than the actual work. I re-read the prologue and it seems as they oppose one another. Where the afterword is provides a hopeful tone, the prologue ends and exhibits with a grim reality. One is different from the other due to the Piri’s “conversion” in the second part of the novel.

I found the whole of the second part to be one long search. Piri is in search of his truth, his identity, his place in the world. It took being incarcerated for him to realize where he belonged. Up until his time in jail, his hate for the world, his circumstances just kept growing. We see this in his act of “revenge” with a “white broad” where he uses his Spanish language to get into a house that forbade black people and at the end of his revealing his identity as if he was some kind of monster. We see the same act of hate towards his father’s mistress whom he discovers to be white, shredding her photograph to bits. Mixed with the grief he had for his mother’s death we see that he completely despises his father. When his father confronts him Piri speaks back at him emulating a southern drawl. His father keeps showing his denial of his colour. This is how Piri leaves, and “losing” his family spirals him into an addiction (ch.21). From there he becomes a drug dealer. Then joins a gang, which blows over the top in his shooting a cop. Going to prison allowed him to acquire a different perspective on life. He starts referring the outside as the “freeside” and yearns for a break of routine. What I find interesting is that when living life on the “freeside” there is a routine to uphold as well. What is the difference between prison and the freeside when his life in Harlem had been a set of several prisons as well? Drugs, gang life, thieving, etc. When we reach this sort of impasse, that is where a conversion comes about. That is what religion did for Piri in prison. The kink is that race, identity, drugs had been for Piri were unknotted in this climax of his story.

In the Afterword Piri Thomas mentions that “children become what they are taught or not taught; children become what they learn or don’t learn”. I think this Afterword is an answer to the plea the author makes in his prologue. An answer that came much later in his life. I think we can attribute many failures to ignorance. Especially when it comes to matters of conscience, justice, and most importantly one’s own identity. I think this adds on to the duality we find in the book of light and dark: white vs. black, truth vs. ignorance, dream vs. reality. Denial further deepens the pit of ignorance, at some point we need to face the truth, and I believe this novel is a really good example of that. Furthermore considering the theme of conversion, we can attribute it as a general kink of the novel for its very definition according to cambridge dictionary is "the process of converting something from one thing to another". Maybe Piri is a kink among his friends and family from Harlem for "A lot of my boys were either hollowed-out junkies or in prison(...)" (p.321).

Down These Mean Streets Part II: Conversion


There is so much to think about with the second part of this book. It is difficult to analyze knowing that it is an autobiography, for what we are reading is part someone’s life. The author’s Afterword is very interesting, and I believe it has a really different tone than the actual work. I re-read the prologue and it seems as they oppose one another. Where the afterword is provides a hopeful tone, the prologue ends and exhibits with a grim reality. One is different from the other due to the Piri’s “conversion” in the second part of the novel.

I found the whole of the second part to be one long search. Piri is in search of his truth, his identity, his place in the world. It took being incarcerated for him to realize where he belonged. Up until his time in jail, his hate for the world, his circumstances just kept growing. We see this in his act of “revenge” with a “white broad” where he uses his Spanish language to get into a house that forbade black people and at the end of his revealing his identity as if he was some kind of monster. We see the same act of hate towards his father’s mistress whom he discovers to be white, shredding her photograph to bits. Mixed with the grief he had for his mother’s death we see that he completely despises his father. When his father confronts him Piri speaks back at him emulating a southern drawl. His father keeps showing his denial of his colour. This is how Piri leaves, and “losing” his family spirals him into an addiction (ch.21). From there he becomes a drug dealer. Then joins a gang, which blows over the top in his shooting a cop. Going to prison allowed him to acquire a different perspective on life. He starts referring the outside as the “freeside” and yearns for a break of routine. What I find interesting is that when living life on the “freeside” there is a routine to uphold as well. What is the difference between prison and the freeside when his life in Harlem had been a set of several prisons as well? Drugs, gang life, thieving, etc. When we reach this sort of impasse, that is where a conversion comes about. That is what religion did for Piri in prison. The kink is that race, identity, drugs had been for Piri were unknotted in this climax of his story.

In the Afterword Piri Thomas mentions that “children become what they are taught or not taught; children become what they learn or don’t learn”. I think this Afterword is an answer to the plea the author makes in his prologue. An answer that came much later in his life. I think we can attribute many failures to ignorance. Especially when it comes to matters of conscience, justice, and most importantly one’s own identity. I think this adds on to the duality we find in the book of light and dark: white vs. black, truth vs. ignorance, dream vs. reality. Denial further deepens the pit of ignorance, at some point we need to face the truth, and I believe this novel is a really good example of that. Furthermore considering the theme of conversion, we can attribute it as a general kink of the novel for its very definition according to cambridge dictionary is "the process of converting something from one thing to another". Maybe Piri is a kink among his friends and family from Harlem for "A lot of my boys were either hollowed-out junkies or in prison(...)" (p.321).

Down These Mean Streets: “You can’t make yesterday come back today.”

The last half of Down These Mean Streets tackled the prevalent division in society mainly concerned with race. These conflicts result in stereotypes, discrimination, brawls, and identity crises. Though there were numerous key ideas in Thomas’s memoir, I want to analyze the attitudes of racial identity and societal disturbance regarding 3 important characters; Brew, Gerald Andrew West, and Piri. Those these individuals have profound conversations with one another, they each hold differing views on belonging in a segregated society.

The first (and probably most vocal) character that has strong beliefs about discrimination and maltreatment is Brew, who believes that “if you white, tha’s all right. If you black, da’s dat,” revealing that he views society as a hierarchical institution that sticks African-Americans at the bottom. Though his beliefs aren’t far from the truth of the world depicted in the book, he is cynical about someone being anything more than the colour of their skin. As he informs Piri repeatedly that “his skin makes him a member of the black man’s race,” this displays that Brew does not believe one’s heritage, culture, or ethnicity matters as the “paddies” and society as a whole treat others based on what they shade of skin they see. Despite understanding the plight that African-Americans must endure, Brew is “proud of being a Negro.” There are expressions and strategies that Brew remembers from his childhood in Mobile that have stuck with him, protecting himself from the systemic oppression of White over Black. Though Brew has these pessimistic and almost hopeless ideas of how society operates, it’s obvious that life in Mobile has shaped those beliefs profoundly. As we see in Brew’s home town, where Piri tries to order at a restaurant and is ignored and almost beaten by white patrons. This snippet of life in Mobile essentially forces any coloured person living there, just like Brew, to view society as oppressive, unjust, and discriminatory in order to not only find a place where one belongs but in order to survive as well.

The Brew’s negative thoughts reveal themselves when he meets Gerald Andrew West, a mixed-race Pennsylvanian that wants to write a book about “the warmth and harmony of the southern Negro.” Mr. West has black and Spanish ancestry, but the majority of his bloodline has come from White-European backgrounds. As he and Brew talk, he says how he “feels white… looks white… thinks white; therefore [is] white,” but wants to connect with his black and Spanish roots. Trying to connect to his black heritage, he has traveled to Norfolk to enjoy the company of other African-Americans, while connecting to his Spanish side takes the form of studying the Spanish language. Mr. West represents a man who struggles to find his own identity, as it would be simple for him to accept his whiteness but strives to find his true self. Gerald leaves the bar saying to Brew that he will write his book through both black and white lenses to do justice to the black community and bridge the divide between clashing racial groups. Though he is misunderstood by Brew, he continues on the path to find his identity, something that Piri Thomas has struggled with for most of his life.

In the beginning of the book, Piri has unfortunate experiences with racial divides whether it be fighting Italians on the street or being rejected by a white girl at a highschool dance. Brew comes along and proceeds to confuse an already struggling individual by saying he is no more than the colour of his skin; black. However, the progression of Thomas is truly inspiring as his time in prison changes his outlook on the division in society. After being sentenced for 5-15 years at Sing Sing, Piri continues to play it “cara palo”, showing no real emotion to anyone other than to friendly Hispanic and Latino convicts. Soon he is transferred to Comstock, where he begins to comprehend the pecking order of prisons; “At the top are con men… Just beneath them are disbarred lawyers and abortionists… In the middle are the heist men. Thieves and burglers rank just below them. And at the bottom are rapists, faggots, crooked cops, and junkies.” This recognition of the prison pecking order is the start of Piri changing his mentality of social division for the sole reason that the pecking order did not include race. In prison, it didn’t matter what someone’s skin colour was, at least not as much as the outside world. A continuation of Piri’s mental transformation continues as he displays good behaviour practically throughout the entire duration of his sentence. Occasional fights spring up, but never to harm anyone; only to show “heart.” In prison, Piri also admires a friendly white cop, Casey, showing that he drops even more barriers and begins to see the good in some police officers. Finally, the last change Piri experiences is learning about Islam. Though he doesn’t keep with the religion after his sentence, the religion teaches him about community, belonging, faith, and the power of an individual’s actions. Through his lengthy time in prison, Piri develops new beliefs and practices that, when he is freed from prison, give him the tools to tear down discriminatory barriers and create a meaningful life for himself rather than living an unhealthy and addictive lifestyle in the “Mean Streets” of the Spanish Harlem.

-Curtis HR

Down These Mean Streets (Part 2)

Overall, I really enjoyed this book!  The last chapter in particular stood out to me: “I Swears to God and the Virgin” (327).  This chapter begins with Piri going to visit his old building number 109; he says he “always looked at her like an old novia” (327).  I thought this was a super interesting comparison; his relationship with his home/his neighbourhood/his community is just as important as the relationships he has with individuals.  At the end of the last page of the previous chapter, Piri states his thoughts: “what a blank that was.  I should have known, nothing is run the same, nothing stays the same.  You can’t make yesterday come back today.” (326).  Interestingly, on the next page (the start of the very last chapter), when Piri visits his old building, he says: “the mood was the same” (327).  He describes the dark hallways, the dirty marble steps, and he even prepares himself to watch out for the “piles of dog’s mess” (327) or anybody’s “piss water” (327).  For Piri, clearly some things DO stay the same; and in a way, when he visits this old building, he is indeed making “yesterday come back today” (326).  What is it that allows some things to stay the same?  To me, it clearly has to do with memories.  In the very last few pages of the book, Piri is conversing with Carlito (as Carlito is shooting up) and Piri tells him that he is clean.  To me, this claim of being clean has a close connection to what Piri says in the prologue.  For example, in the prologue Piri states: “I’m here and I want recognition” (ix).  Piri believes he is very much worthy of being recognized for navigating himself through the mean streets, and pulling himself out of deep holes (like drug use) that many of his old friends are still stuck in.  On the topic of recognition, in the last chapter Piri greets panín and describes the way in which panín greeted him: “the eyes blinked, straining for some kind of recognition, and then knowing set in …” (327).  Here, like in the prologue, we see the word “recognition”; which I consider to be one of the major themes in this book.  Piri and others are always interacting in ways that involve the recognition of identities; and like we discussed last class, recognizing something/someone involves an aspect of acceptance.  Acceptance, of course, is also a major theme; from the acceptance of identities, to the acceptance of social class and living situation (for example, Piri’s mother accepting that they live in the United States, and not in her beloved, warm Puerto Rico).

Down these mean streets II: Important decisions to be taken

In this second part of the book, one can evidence again the difficulties Piri has to face while he is growing up and becoming an adult. The more he experiences the world, the more he finds key encounters that bring him to terrible circumstances in the future. In these “encounters”, Piri finds himself with difficult decisions he must take. For instance, when Piri is so focused on finding his identity and discovering if he is a real negro, he had to choose between going with Brew to the South, or staying at home with momma, poppa and his siblings. Needed is to say that if he would have stayed at home, he could have avoided all the arguments and fights he had with poppa and his brother Jose. Yet, Piri chose going with Brew to the South in order to discover his blackness. This decision is life changing for Piri, after all the trips he did, he sadly discovers that it does not mind the language you speak, or what your ethnicity might be, the only thing that counts is the color of your skin (your blackness).

Another important decision he had to take was when he was so immersed in the world of drugs, that he had to choose between getting detoxifying with the help of Wanuko, or actually continue ruining his life with H. Piri confessed that it is better to die than going through that horrible process of quitting from drugs. However, at the end, he decided to take a very painful decision, but one he knew will be more beneficial for him. Similarly, once Piri gets to know these two criminals, he gets face to face with the decision to accepting joining them, and together with Louie, commit various robberies in New York. The decision he took affected his future in many respects – he is imprisoned for this crime. When Piri is in jail,  he is once again presented with changeling encounters that need to be addressed by taking a decision. He must fight for obtaining his parole, and in order to do so, he must wisely decide which path to follow.

Lastly,  when Piri goes out from prison, he is again faced with the difficult decision of avoiding the same mistakes (or erroneous decisions) he made in the past. Fortunately this time,  even though he slips into his old habits; Piri is able to resist the temptations of drugs and crime through prayer and through seeing one of his old friends in the throes of a destructive heroin addiction.

Pamela Chavez

Week 7—Down These Mean Streets (part ii)

I found myself wide awake at 2:30 this morning after 3 short hours of sleep. They don’t make infomercials like they used to, so I decided to read the final 40 or so pages of DTMS. I had been savouring them, not wanting the story to end.

There are so many things I find significant in this book. So many things that I’ve experienced in my life that parallel what Piri Thomas shares with his readers, yet the life he lived and the one I’ve lived thus far are completely different—or are they? From the Prologue to the final chapter, Thomas spills out his inner most thoughts: his yearning to belong in society; his quest for his identity, a relationship with Poppa; the loss of everything he knew due to a bad decision—the loss of 7 years of his life, the loss of Moms, Brew, Trina and probably countless others who didn’t make the pages of this book.

All of my anticipation of reaching the end of the book came to a head at the bottom of page 314, after he has been released from Comstock State Prison and is back in jail waiting to face his further charges. Thomas recalls, “I studied my new home. It was three parts concrete, one part steel bars—yellow bars, or were they buff? I chuckled. Green, yellow, buff—they were still bars underneath. I looked up and around and I saw that I wasn’t alone.” The notions of home, colours and layers of facades plays such an integral part in his story, in his life…in our lives. Home is such an important idea that he sections portions of the book off according to the geographic area he hung his hat at the time things were happening. Whether he was at home with his familia, couch surfing with strangers or incarcerated, home was where he slept. In fact he titled the book after the streets where he felt at home, and called them mean. I find this really interesting having lived on the streets myself. Sure, they were mean—the people who had homes were mean, but the homeless community of which I was a part was anything but mean. We looked out for each other, just as Thomas’ pals did for him.

Colour was a catalyst for so much of Thomas’ mental anguish. Within his family, it was never an issue. As a young child, living in El Barrio, it was never an issue. It was more important that one had heart, never mind the colour of their skin. And while it never dawned on him that he wasn’t white, Moms always called him ‘negrito’. Granted, I’ve been told by many of my Spanish profs that this is a term of endearment, but still. And in the end, skin colour is just an external layer, much like the layers on the steel bars of his jail cell. Whether they were buff or yellow—is that really the point?

I am sorry to end this book. I want to find out how Thomas went from this to the next phases of his life. I will have to search for his subsequent books and writings.

For my song this week, I’ve chosen one of the most poignant songs of my youth—“Gangster’s Paradise” by Coolio. It was released about a year after I had been on the streets of Toronto, ‘shelter hoping’. The racial diversity was omnipresent in the shelters and I found my closest allies/ friends were Jamaican. Anyway, this song played on their ghetto blasters nonstop at the time. It became almost an anthem for me. The song’s opening words about sum it up for me: “As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death | I take a look at my life and realize there’s not much left”. Just like Piri Thomas, I reflect back on the stuff I’ve seen, the stuff I’ve done…stuff I’m proud of and stuff I’m not so proud of. I am where I am today because of it all. I’ve still got lessons to learn in life. Books like DTMS help me dig deeper at those events, providing me with new lessons and ways to look at things in preparation for the tomorrows.

Down These Mean Streets II

thomas_mean-streets2The second half of Piri Thomas’s Down These Mean Streets is much less preoccupied with questions of identity than the first. It seems as though Thomas has accepted that his primary identity is the one bestowed on him by society, rather than family: he is black, even if he can occasionally “pass” as something else, as when (in Texas) he goes to a brothel with a Mexican friend and, by acting as though he only speaks Spanish, assures the establishment that he is foreign rather than African American. As he leaves, though, he switches to English and watches as the prostitute’s “smile fall[s] off and a look of horror fill[s] the empty space it left–‘I just want you to know,’” he tells her, “’that you got fucked by a nigger, by a black man!’” (189). If he is going to be penalized for his blackness, in other words, by this point he sees that it can also be wielded as a weapon.

Towards the end of the book, in an odd and somewhat underdeveloped passage, Thomas even seems to be taken by Black Nationalism: under the influence of a follower of Elijah Muhammed, he becomes a Muslim and takes on the name “Hussein Afmit Ben Hassen” (296). Neither the religion nor the name stick (for reasons that Thomas does not explain), but it is notable that he has little corresponding interest, even momentarily, in his Puerto Rican heritage or latinidad. Indeed, though he signs on to work on a ship that travels to the West Indies, it is not clear that he visits the island, or even that the thought to do so ever crosses his mind. “Puerto Rican” becomes simply a qualifier, albeit a necessary one, to “black”: when a plainclothes detective grabs him and calls him a “black bastard,” Thomas replies “If you don’t mind, I’m a Puerto Rican black bastard” (235). His blackness is no longer contested.

But the book’s fundamental concern continues to be the self. In some ways, this is unsurprising given the generic conventions of the memoir, whose point is largely to narrate the unfolding or discovery of what makes an individual what he or she is. But Piri is more concerned with “me” than most. Thomas tells us that “one thing still stood out clear; one things still made sense and counted–me. Nothing else but me” (95). And asked for “who do you love?” he seems hardly to hesitate before answering “Me” (259). He has many associates but relatively few friends; relationships become significant only when they are at an end, as with his friend Brew (who disappears), his mother (who dies), or his girlfriend Trina (who marries another man).

Ultimately Piri is not particularly interested in other people. Nor is he all that concerned with a broader notion of community or “people.” Sent to prison for robbery with violence, there is a point, when the inmates rise up against the guards, at which Thomas has to decide on his allegiances and belonging, and ends up split, arguing with his self: “These damn cons are my people . . . What do you mean, your people? Your people are outside the cells, home, in the streets” (281). In the end, though, it is more that he has no people.

Rejected for the most part by mainstream society, with the exception of the anomalous episode of Muslim conversion he is unable or unwilling to find any alternative sense of community. The book’s final scene is emblematic. Returning to Harlem and to the building he once lived in, he meets an old friend, Carlito, who at first does not recognize him. It turns out that Carlito is, like Piri had once been, a junkie. Hearing his mumbled but unconvincing promises that he will get clean, Thomas realizes that all this is simply part of his past, of his numerous yesterdays: “my whole world was yesterday. I ain’t got nothing but today and a whole lot of tomorrows” (330). Ignoring what Carlito is saying, Piri leaves him behind and “walked out into the street, past hurrying people and an unseen jukebox beating out a sad-assed bolero” (331). Any salvation here is going to be individual rather than collective. There is little if any sense of any common political project.

Even when Thomas bumps into a boy who reminds him uncannily of himself, or of his former self–“This kid shot a cop and got shot; I shot a cop and got shot. What’s happened to me is going to happen to him” (315)–he is hardly keen to communicate his own experience and learning, fobbing him off rather with a “Buenas noches” and the unconvincing and unlikely reassurance that “You’ll probably get a break, don’t worry about it” (315). Taken as a whole, however, the book gives the lie to this superficial prognosis. Piri himself catches very few breaks. And if he survives to tell the tale, it is hardly thanks to anyone else but to the fact that he has shown, over and over, that whatever the colour of his skin he has “heart.” And it is heart, a mixture of bravery and persistence, capacity to affect or be affected, that is untethered from any notion of identity or belonging, that is finally what counts. This is what leads to acceptance on the street, where “if you you ain’t got heart, you ain’t got nada” (47). You make your own luck, and you do so as an individual (because heart is what defines the individual), not as part of a group.

Down These Mean Streets (Part 1)

I have really enjoyed this book so far. As I was reading the first part I found myself very attentive in learning more about Piri’s life with every page that passed. Two aspects of the book that stuck out for me were Piri’s sense of wanting to belong and the mother’s longing for Puerto Rico, the place that she is able to identify with the most.

A quote which resonated with me in the book was one where the mother remembers the people in Puerto Rico and her life over there. She says, “I like los Estados Unidos, but it’s sometimes a cold place to live-not because of the winter and the landlord not giving heat but because of the snow in the hearts of the people”. I feel that this is something that many immigrants can understand and often find themselves trying to become accustomed to in their new country and community. For many of these immigrants such as described by Piri’s mother, it is difficult to become used to a society that is cold, individualistic and has not much depth to it whatsoever. In places like Puerto Rico, and I would say the majority of Latin American countries, the feelings of warmth and camaraderie with each other are very much prevalent. Even if you find yourself in an unfavourable economic situation you still are able to find the good in life, that warmth in your heart that brings you joy. Though many live in difficult life circumstances they are still living life joyfully and are satisfied with life itself. Moving from one of these countries to a place like New York where one can probably find more advantages in growing, economic stability and success is a complete cultural and societal change. These Latin American societies have a general idea of maintaining close interpersonal relationships, enjoyment of life and having warm and close relationships with your friends, family and those who live in your community. For people moving away from these kinds of societies such as Piri’s mom it is tough to become used to how the people in their new country live such solitary and individualistic lives.

I look forward in continuing this book and reading about Piri’s life and the difficulty of looking for his belonging and approval within society. I believe that many can relate to this story of a boy trying to find who he is and with this constantly experiencing racism, prejudice and violence.

Down These Mean Streets (Part 1)

I have really enjoyed this book so far. As I was reading the first part I found myself very attentive in learning more about Piri’s life with every page that passed. Two aspects of the book that stuck out for me were Piri’s sense of wanting to belong and the mother’s longing for Puerto Rico, the place that she is able to identify with the most.

A quote which resonated with me in the book was one where the mother remembers the people in Puerto Rico and her life over there. She says, “I like los Estados Unidos, but it’s sometimes a cold place to live-not because of the winter and the landlord not giving heat but because of the snow in the hearts of the people”. I feel that this is something that many immigrants can understand and often find themselves trying to become accustomed to in their new country and community. For many of these immigrants such as described by Piri’s mother, it is difficult to become used to a society that is cold, individualistic and has not much depth to it whatsoever. In places like Puerto Rico, and I would say the majority of Latin American countries, the feelings of warmth and camaraderie with each other are very much prevalent. Even if you find yourself in an unfavourable economic situation you still are able to find the good in life, that warmth in your heart that brings you joy. Though many live in difficult life circumstances they are still living life joyfully and are satisfied with life itself. Moving from one of these countries to a place like New York where one can probably find more advantages in growing, economic stability and success is a complete cultural and societal change. These Latin American societies have a general idea of maintaining close interpersonal relationships, enjoyment of life and having warm and close relationships with your friends, family and those who live in your community. For people moving away from these kinds of societies such as Piri’s mom it is tough to become used to how the people in their new country live such solitary and individualistic lives.

I look forward in continuing this book and reading about Piri’s life and the difficulty of looking for his belonging and approval within society. I believe that many can relate to this story of a boy trying to find who he is and with this constantly experiencing racism, prejudice and violence.