Asame

Always Running Essay # 1 Kennedy Alston 02/27/10 201A

Although Luis and Rano Rodriguez are blood brothers their personalities contrast each other in many ways. Luis is the more quiet and reserved one while Rano on the other and is loud and aggressive. If you were asked who is more likely to end up in the gang life you’d probably say Rano. The ironic truth is that it’s actually Luis who became sucked into the gang culture. Rano and Luis took an unexpected turn in Chapter 3 and basically switched personalities. I believe Luis and Rano unconsciously switched personalities one for the good and for the bad.

One of the many reasons I believe Luis switched his demeanor was the fact that his brother was an older influence on him. When growing up with someone their values tend to become your values on life. Rano and Luis were jumped while running errands for their mother in a predominantly white neighborhood where Hispanic people were not welcome. At the end Rano makes Luis swear that he won’t tell anybody how Rano cried during the beating. This instilled in Luis’s mind that it wasn’t ok to cry and that such behavior was unacceptable or dishonorable. When the family moved Rano became the best fighter at his school which also helped Luis’s situation. Luis no longer had to run from bullies being that now they feared his brother. This taught Luis that violence solved problems when it really doesn’t.

Luis’s life was also affected this switch being that it was so dramatic and luckless. Luis moved around a lot with his family which means he never really had any true friends except his brother. Kids tend to do a lot for attention without friends. When Luis started acting out in school the teachers told his mother that he was too smart for that. This was true Luis knew better but saw that his bad behavior came with perks such as not being picked on and gaining attention from those he needed it from. The perks...