Walter Dean Myers Dope Sick Analysis

Desperate time’s means desperate measures for people and consequences are not considered. People will go to great lengths to survive no matter what happens in the process. Teenagers are a few of those people who can get lost in this chaotic world and do things to survive without considering the cost. Walter Dean Myers Dope Sick displays the life of a teenager named Lil J, who has lived through layers of pain and has to make difficult decisions. His life is troublesome with a drunken mother who has neglected him his whole life and a disappeared father. To make a living he steals his mom’s pills and uses them to forget about his hardships. His path from brokesick to dopesick leads him and his friend Rico to agree to a drug deal to make quick
Rico gets caught and Lil J is on run with a bullet in his arm and hides in an abandoned house. In the abandoned house he encounters a man named Kelly who is sitting in front of a television with a remote control. He is able to show Lil J his life by fast forward to show the future and rewinding to show the past and present. By meeting Kelly, he is able to assess his life and a chance to change the way he lives his life. Respond
I was never the type of person to run away from home and definitely not the person who would be seen at a shady place. When Lil J was running from the cops and looking for a place to hide out, he chooses an abandoned building. As soon as he walked into the building, I could smell trouble. He expected to encounter dope heads, nomadic people and juiceheads. And other people running away to solve their problems like being broke sick as well. I thought he was going to run into a cop investigating the building because there were police officers outside on the streets. At this time, I knew he was going to get caught because no one gets away
Yes you have, because everyone dreams of having a second chance; everyone wishes they could change and have something that they never had before. Walter Dean Myers with this novel breaks the ground and brings a hurricane with a tale filled with second chances, redemption and the promise of hope. Through Lil J’s life, readers are able to see how self-aware he becomes and the fact he would do anything to change the last twenty four hours of his life. He is a father, a drug user, a minor criminal, and never passed school. As Lil J opens up, the audience sees a man who was looking for a way to take away all the pain and make each day a little easier for him. This novel connected to me in ways that are not describable. I grew up with an alcoholic and abusive dad who screwed up bad. I was never able to forgive him for his mistake of leaving my mom to work two jobs, throwing a fit when he did not get alcohol and never being at our soccer games or picking us up from school. Reading the novel helped me understand why my dad did certain things. When Kelly said “Life is like a taxi. The meter just keeps ticking whether you are getting somewhere or just standing still” helped me realize forgiving my dad would also allow me to move forward. Kelly is implying taxis are always moving and life is going to move on whether you are ready or not. He was trying to convince Lil J to recognize his mistakes and live beyond the