The Destination In Robert Lipsyte's The Contender

In the novel, The Contender, Robert Lipsyte introduces Alfred Brooks as a high school dropout who has a best friend James who is a drug addict. Alfred’s father left him at the age of 10 and his mother passed away because of pneumonia. Alfred is always a coward when it comes to Major and his gang who are bullies. One day Alfred gets tired of running away from Major and goes to Donatelli's gym to train to become a boxer.Later, he wants to quit but asks Donatelli if he would ever spar and become a contender. Donatelli tells him that only he will know. In the novel, Robert Lipsyte conveys to the reader that the journey is more important than the