chapter 1 response

Chapter 1 response

The quote “But at least the motherfucker tried” is important for a few reasons.
Socrates is a poor black man that wants to do something with the rest of his life. He is described as a person that under no circumstances quits at anything. Socrates is a person that has been in jail for many years and wants to make the most of the rest of his life. Socrates under no circumstances condones quitting at anything if there is even the smallest possibility of succeeding. In this chapter Socrates Rooster is killed by some kid named Darryl. Socrates talks about how even though “The rooster was hoarse in his old age, his crow no more than a whimper” he still tried. This is one of the main reasons Socrates was outraged when Darryl killed. In this chapter Socrates talks about how he was in jail for killing a man and raping his women. Socrates has kind of a cynical view of the world. He thinks that he is a very violent person who must restrain himself at all times. This is important because even though Socrates views himself as a threat to everyone he still goes about living his life to the fullest extent possible. In this chapter Socrates meets a kid by the name of Darryl that has run away from his home and is living on the streets. In this chapter Socrates tries to teach his belief that people should live there life to the fullest as long as it isn’t at the expense of another creature. Socrates talks about how he regrets having killed someone every day and that it is hardest ting he has ever and will ever have to deal with. Socrates takes Darryl to his home and tells him that he will let him go after he helps him cook the rooster and admits that he killed the rooster. After Darryl admits to having killed the rooster Socrates admits that it was not his rooster and explains his real reason for taking making Darryl do all that stuff which was to get him to admit what he did and to get him to go back to his home with his family.

chapter 4 response

Chapter 4 response



Always Outnumbered Ch.4 Interpretive Question"You looked right through me brother. You across the street gettin' your nut offa that girl right in front'a me like I was some kinda animal, like I didn't even matter at all." p. 61Place this quotation in context and explain how it relates to characters, events and themes in the novel. Use specific examples from the text to support your points.


In this chapter Socrates talks about how people don’t notice him or just ignore him because of his appearance. Socrates is described as being a person with a very short temper. Socrates has a habit of reacting in a violent manner toward the smallest on things. “There was a time that Socrates would have hurt a man for ignoring him the way Ralphie did”. In this chapter t Socrates talks about how he almost got in a fight with Richie fo looking at him in a negative way. It was only because of Socrates practice at controlling his Fists that he was able to restrain himself . “he looked Ralphie in the eye, givin him one last chance to be civil”. This is an example of when Socrates did not jump to the conclusion that the person was asking for a fight and restrained himself. Instead of getting into a physical fight with Ralpie. Even after Ralphie began to insult Socrates after he started talking to him by telling Socrates“” im letting you stay here cause nobody should be out in no rain like this”. When Socrates says "You looked right through me brother. You across the street gettin' your nut offa that girl right in front'a me like I was some kinda animal, like I didn't even matter at all." He is talking about a person that he feels is a hypocrite because just a moment before he started talking to Socrates “he wouldn’t even say boo” to him.

Chapter 3 response

Chapter 3 Response


In this chapter Socrates meets a man named Wilfred at a bar who is flashing around all of the money he has stolen. Socrates talks about how it is people like him that cause problems for poor people. Socrates talks about how he thinks that his crime of having murdered and raped someone is nothing compared to the crime of stealing from people. “When Socrates says “you out there shovelin it man. You the one out there stealin from the white man an’ blamin me he is talking abut how , because Wilfred robs people then blames other people for his crime other people are being arrested for crimes they didn’t commit. When Socrates says “But when the bill come due I’m the one got t’ pay it . Me an’ all the rest out here” he is talking about how even though Wilfred is offering him all this money for food he wont take it because he knows that in the end he may have to pay a much higher price or it, meaning that he might end up in jail or in debt to a person that stole the money he gave him.

Chapter 2 response

Chapter 2 response.

In this chapter the group has to solve the problem of what to do about Petris who was seen killing someone. In this chapter the decision is one that almost every person in the group regrets after they find out that there decision was responsible for Petris getting killed. If they hadn’t exiled Petris from his home he wouldn’t have had to resort to mugging people to maintain a livable income. If the group had had more experience in dealing with matters similar to this one they might have thought of a better solution that wouldn’t have resulted in Petris being killed. An important quote in the chapter is proof of this is “We aint even sure he did it, Right,: Stony Wile, the squat ship welder from East ST. Louis said. “It’s just hearsay we goin’ on .”Noooo,no.” No- neck Howard shook his head. He was both the heaviest and the youngest man in the room.. “My li’l girl aint lyin’. She seen what I told you. “. Even though they are not positive that he committed the crime they still banish him from his home. If they had more experience discussing problems such as these they might have looked further into the evidence instead of jumping to conclusions based on Howard’s daughters statement. If they had looked further into the case they might have come to the conclusion that Petris was in fact innocent. All of the people in the group some what regret what was done, especially Socrates which becomes apparent when he says . “I don’t know if I’d ever have the heart ever to do it again”.

project

The two questions I am focusing on in this presentation are; how do race and economic status influence human life and identity? And how can people redeem themselves after doing wrong?

In chapter 5 there are many examples that apply to the question, how do race and economic status influence human life and identity? in chapter 5 Socrates tries to get a job at a supermarket which he knows will be problematic because of his race, criminal history, and financial situation. Almost immediately after requesting an application he can tell that the manager is reluctant to give him one because of his appearance. After requesting an application from Anton Crier the store manager he looked at Socrates in a way where Socrates knew there was going to be a problem. “Anton Criers brow knitted and he stalled for a moment before asking , an application for what? A job……It was less than a minute and this short white man , just a boy really had already made him beg. ….Uh how old are you sir” . for no reason other than his appearance the people at the store were ready to throw him out just because of his financial status. After returning to the store for a few consecutive days asking the question

chapter 2 response

Always Outnumbered Ch 2 Interpretive QuestionGroup 2: Ch 2 "Midnight Meeting"What is your interpretation of the following quote: “Maybe we should have us a regular group meeting bout problems like Petis…it worked out well the first time,” (p.36) in relations to any of our focus questions for the book? Support your interpretation with specific details from the text. (1 page response)

Chapter 2 chapter response.
In this chapter the group has to solve the problem of what to do about Petris who was seen killing someone. In this chapter the decision is one that almost every person in the group regrets after they find out that there decision was responsible for Petris getting killed. If they hadn’t exiled Petris from his home he wouldn’t have had to resort to mugging people to maintain a livable income. If the group had had more experience in dealing with matters similar to this one they might have thought of a better solution that wouldn’t have resulted in Petris being killed. An important quote in the chapter is proof of this is “We aint even sure he did it, Right,: Stony Wile, the squat ship welder from East ST. Louis said. “It’s just hearsay we goin’ on .”Noooo,no.” No- neck Howard shook his head. He was both the heaviest and the youngest man in the room.. “My li’l girl aint lyin’. She seen what I told you. “. Even though they are not positive that he committed the crime they still banish him from his home. If they had more experience discussing problems such as these they might have looked further into the evidence instead of jumping to conclusions based on Howard’s daughters statement. If they had looked further into the case they might have come to the conclusion that Petris was in fact innocent. All of the people in the group some what regret what was done, especially Socrates which becomes apparent when he says . “I don’t know if I’d ever have the heart ever to do it again”.

Chapter 5 Equal Opportunity

Page 63 “He imagined apples and T bone 1 steaks, fat hams and the extra large boxes of cereal that they only sold in supermarkets.”

Page 63 “The footsteps and occasional conversation blended together until they made a murmuring sound that lulled the ex convict”

Page 64 “There was a definite religious feeling feel to being in the great store”

Page 68 “he didn’t want to take the application back – partly because he didn’t want to break the pudgy white woman’s fingers”

Page 76 “she really thought that you were going to come in here guns blazing”

Page 78 “He wanted to know why I had left one of the boxes blank. What Box? The one that asks if I’d ever been arrested for or convicted of a felony”

Chapter 3 the theif

"Stealin's right for the man takin' an' wrong fo' the man bein' took." Page 46

"Then I get all dressed up like this an' put on a runnin' suit or maybe some funky clothes like you got on, over that." Page 48

Page 41 “Lula used sage in her meat loaf. He couldn’t make it himself because all he had at home was a hot plate and you cant make meat loaf on a hot plate”

I’m sayin that this good life you talking ‘ ‘bout stealin’ comes outta your own brother’s house . page 47

“If you so upstanding an hardworkin’ an honest then why don’t you wanna come here an work fo me?”

In this chapter Socrates meets a person named Wilfred who is waving money around offering to pay for his meal . Socrates knows that the money is stolen. to show Wilfred that he doesn’t want his money he not only pays for his own meal but also pays for Wilfred’s meal.

In this chapter Socrates shows that he would rather have nothing than be given something from someone that did not earn it honestly. Socrates could be described as a very stubborn person. In this chapter he is offered a job at the restaurant but out of fear for the women, Lula he declines the offer. He fears that he might accidentally hurt her with his hands. He feels that since he can’t control his hands he might hurt the person that has been so nice to him

The chapter ends with Socrates walking home instead of taking the bus just so he could have a few cents to his name and because he enjoys the satisfaction of knowing he did something.

Chapter 2 Midnight meeting

“Socrates only neighbors were two burned out furniture stores and an almost always empty street”


Page 29 Paragraph 3 “they wanted him to kill Petris. After all he was the one among them that had gone to prison for double murder” (this quote is of course talking about how Socrates’ friends want him to kill Petris because has had experience with killing people)

Page 26 “We aint even sure he did it, Right,: Stony Wile, the squat ship welder from East ST. Louis said. “It’s just hearsay we goin’ on .”Noooo,no.” No- neck Howard shook his head. He was both the heaviest and the youngest man in the room.. “My li’l girl aint lyin’. She seen what I told you. “

(This quote proves that they have absolute confidence in what each person says and are willing to do anything that they feel is necessary even if they don’t have any hard evidence.)

(In this chapter it becomes apparent that the Socrates and his friends prefer to solve there problems without any help from the police.

Page 26 “ I aint sending my baby down to no cops.”

Page 28 “he wouldn’t even get to trial ‘less they got hard evidence” . “ he be on the street in less than a week” “ an’ be knocking on my door”

Howard feels that unless they do something about Petris , not only will he not be arrested but he will come after his family, and he doesn’t want to put his family through that.

By the end of the chapter they all come to the agreement that the best way of handling the situation is to exile Petris with the condition that if they ever see him again they will kill him.

Socrates is the one given the responsibility of telling Petris.

Petris leaves almost immediately after being told of the deal regarding his being exiled.

At the end of the chapter you learn that Petris was killed a little over a month after being exiled. After being exiled Petris had no where to go but was afraid to go back to his home.

‘He begged and lived in alleys downtown”

Petris robbed other street people and tried his hand at drug dealing but failed. One day Petris got into a fight with a man he thought he could rob. Petris ended up getting beaten to death.

“I don’t know if I’d ever have the heart ever to do it again”

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This blog contains key information, important quotes, and summaries about the book Always Outnumbered Always Outgunned.

Chapter 1 Crimson Shadow

In chapter one Socrates comes across a kid (Darryl) that killed his old friend a rooster (Billy).

In this chapter Socrates takes the kid to his house to his house to make him cook the rooster in order to get him to confess to killing the rooster.

In this chapter Socrates tells Darryl that he was in jail for killing a man and raping his women.

At the end of the chapter Socrates tells Darryl that the rooster wasn’t his but instead belonged to an old lady across the alley

“there was no respite for her but she still stood defiant”

At the end of the chapter Socrates talks about how his family deserted him after he was sent to jail . “In some ways he considers Darryl to be kind of like his only family”
(Family meaning someone that will listen to what he has to say without disregarding it as nonsense being said by a criminal desperate for attention)

“The rooster was hoarse in his old age, his crow no more than a whimper. But at least that motherfucker tried.” This implies that Socrates believes that no matter how bad something looks he wont give up which was the reason he acted the way he did when he found out about the rooster being killed.

“Just before he was asleep he though of how he would wake up alone.” This implies that he yearns for someone else in his life (friend or something more serious)