The Enemy Within
Juan Conde
Professor Muñiz
19 November 2012
English 67
The Enemy Within
Throughout life everyone is forced to face their own worst enemy and will have a lot of trouble confronting and dealing with them that worst enemy will always be themselves. This enemy brings many problems and inner conflicts that are difficult to solve. Everyone has their own way of coping with these problems, some more critical than others. In the book Drugstore Cowboy, by James Fogle, the main character Bob deals with this dichotomy in different was throughout the book and his two sides are very easily differentiated. Throughout the book Bob is faced with difficult decisions and has the choice of either being that humane and caring man or the cruel and manipulative man that he can be. As he is making these decisions Bob has to not only think of the situation but also make sure that his crew is safe or if he needs to use them. Bob is a very complex individual with two conflicting sides to him, one that is used to show his humane and caring nature and the other is used to intimidate or manipulate people.
Deep down, Bob is a caring and humane man. He protects his crew with his life; he puts himself on the line for his crew and for the people he cares about like his mother and Diane. This side of Bob is made very clear when he visits his mother and shows her nothing but respect and he even shows some humility when speaking to her. When Bob’s mom exclaims that Bob is a thief he replies, “Jesus, Mama, when have I ever stole anything from your house? Name me one thing I ever took from you without telling you? Just name me one thing?” (Fogle58). The way he replies and speaks to his mother shows that he has the outmost respect for her, his way of talking to his mother shows humility. When speaking with his mother he always calls her mama or mom; he never called her by her first name or by anything else. Bob also shows a lot of submissiveness when he is with his mom, it seems like he still
Professor Muñiz
19 November 2012
English 67
The Enemy Within
Throughout life everyone is forced to face their own worst enemy and will have a lot of trouble confronting and dealing with them that worst enemy will always be themselves. This enemy brings many problems and inner conflicts that are difficult to solve. Everyone has their own way of coping with these problems, some more critical than others. In the book Drugstore Cowboy, by James Fogle, the main character Bob deals with this dichotomy in different was throughout the book and his two sides are very easily differentiated. Throughout the book Bob is faced with difficult decisions and has the choice of either being that humane and caring man or the cruel and manipulative man that he can be. As he is making these decisions Bob has to not only think of the situation but also make sure that his crew is safe or if he needs to use them. Bob is a very complex individual with two conflicting sides to him, one that is used to show his humane and caring nature and the other is used to intimidate or manipulate people.
Deep down, Bob is a caring and humane man. He protects his crew with his life; he puts himself on the line for his crew and for the people he cares about like his mother and Diane. This side of Bob is made very clear when he visits his mother and shows her nothing but respect and he even shows some humility when speaking to her. When Bob’s mom exclaims that Bob is a thief he replies, “Jesus, Mama, when have I ever stole anything from your house? Name me one thing I ever took from you without telling you? Just name me one thing?” (Fogle58). The way he replies and speaks to his mother shows that he has the outmost respect for her, his way of talking to his mother shows humility. When speaking with his mother he always calls her mama or mom; he never called her by her first name or by anything else. Bob also shows a lot of submissiveness when he is with his mom, it seems like he still
Cited: Fogle, James. Drugstore Cowboy. New York: Dell Publishing, 1990. Print.