Rule Of The Bone, written by Russell Banks, is a story told by a short fourteen year old boy named Chappie, who endured a lot of pain and suffering. His father abandoned his family when Chappie was five. When his mother remarried, he suffered from his stepfather's abuse. Both his mother and stepfather were alcoholics and completely ignored him. To gain attention, Chappie got a Mohawk haircut, pierced his ears, and sported a nose ring. As an escape, Chappie started using drugs and stole his mother's collection of valuable coins in order to pay for them.
This totally infuriated his mother and Chappie decided to leave home. Following this, Chappie lived in an apartment above a video store with heavy metal bikers. A fire broke out, and Chappie left the apartment. Next, Chappie and his friend
...Russ, camped out in an abandoned summer house. Chappie eventually left and helped a young girl named Froggy escape from a drug addict and porno movie maker named Buster Brown. Chappie and Froggy then met up with a religious Jamaican named I-man. Chappie felt that I-man was his teacher in life. After meeting I-man, Chappie decided to send Froggy back to her mother.
Chappie then followed I-man to Jamaica where they dealt drugs to tourists. In Jamaica, Chappie ran into his real father who took him and I-man back to live at the "mothership". At the "mothership", Chappie ended up losing his virginity to his father's girlfriend. Finally, I-man got killed, and Chappie became a part of a sea crew and set out on another voyage. Rule Of The Bone is a great intriguing story. On one hand one can identif
and relate to this teenage boy and share some of his feelings. Chappie gives great descriptions of characters, which made me envision the characters without any difficulty.
But Buster Brown is a man of contrasts I guess, a guy who at first glance seems to be taking care of a child that he later turns out to be doping for his porn movies, a guy who wants to help kids who're homeless and all that but also wants to suck and fuck them too, a Christian in a Christian van who turns out to be a has been actor with an English accent looking for kids to be proteges and turns out to be a white guy who likes gangsta rap and manages a band and calls them niggers who turns out to be a doper on speed or coke or maybe crack and turns out to be taking care of a poor little homeless girl, and so on in a vicious circle like that. " (Page 138) Men had a deep influence of Bone’s life. I-Man, Ken and Doc are the most significant men who influence his life.
I-Man gives spiritual strength and patience to Bone. Ken is the fatherly figure of Bone. Doc influences Bone by making him realize that he must lead a different life from Doc. Ken does not treat Bone properly and abuses him. I-Man on the other hand acts a guide for Bone to handle the complex problems of the world. The presence of men in the novel is a topic that can not be disregarded. The actions of these men had a tremendous effect on the person that Bone is
ultimately molded in to. His experiences with the men in his life help him change from a confused kid to a solid person. The sexual abuse that Ken bestows upon Bone holds Bone under captivity.
Bone is haunted and ruled over by this sexual abuse. Ken had little positive influence on Bone’s life. Bone constantly makes references to his experiences with Ken. Bone narrates, “Definitely it was the grossest thing I’d ever seen, at least at that moment it was which is strange I guess because I’d seen lots of really gross things by then. ” The sexual abuse theme haunts Bone. He is trapped by what Ken has done to him. Bone’s experience with Ken disenables him from being able to release his demons. Bone is unable to forget the past and move on with the future because of what Ken has done to him. Bone even has difficulty interacting with others physically.
When the bikers offer Bone a woman, he declines the offer. Bone’s daunting experiences with Ken kept him held down mentally throughout the book. Ken is responsible for Chappie’s terrible childhood. Ken was the reason Bone left his family and Ken’s actions motivated Chappie to become the dysfunctional teenager that he was. However, Bone does get some positive experience from his interactions with Ken. This positive experience comes from when Bone finally stands up to Ken when he returns home. Bone says, “Standing out there on the deck I felt incredibly calm and almost old, like I was an elderly and had already lived my whole life and was only waiting around now to die. Bone feels this way because he was finally
able to take full control of the situation with Ken.
Bone is finally unchained from his agnate life through I-Man and his “soft smile. ” He is freed from his life that has been so greatly altered by Ken. I-Man teaches Chappie how to treasure life and love living it. I-Man teaches Bone that he is capable of doing things on his own. Bone is learning from I-Man who has been independent for most of his life. I-Man treats Bone as an equal which allows them to have a symbiotic relationship. Their relationship allows Bone to live peacefully. Bone says, “We were happy then. ” Bone’s thoughts about drugs also change when he is with I-Man.
The relationship between Bone and his actual father had a tremendous impact on how Bone discovered the way he should live life. Bone sees that his father lives a very corrupt life. He also believes that he does not have aspirations to become like his father. He does not seek a life that may resemble the life Doc lives. Bone realizes that Doc is not living a “good life. ” Doc lives however he wants to. Bone realizes that having no control over your life leads to shadiness. Bone’s father inadvertently had a good effect on Bone. All of these men transform Bone into an anti hero. Each of them eventually led to Bone being independent. Ken caused the transformation of Bone into a rebellious teenager addicted to drugs and confused.
I-Man gave him hope and how to lead a life. He also taught him to be independent. It also allowed him to be independent. Bone finds that perfect independence is fatal
and tries to strike a balance. Bone reaches a point at the end of the book where he is very mature. He decides to go back to America because he realizes the life for him in Jamaica could damage his life severely. Bone eventually realizes that living is not all about bliss and drugs. He reaches the point where he knows he must take action with his life. The men in Bone’s life gave him the experience he needed to attain his independence and maturity that was necessary for Bone to realize what he wanted with his existence.
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