Tattoo
Luis gets his first tattoo in high school, when he becomes more and more involved in the gang life. The person who urged Luis to get a tattoo was his then girlfriend who thought that it would look nice for Luis to have one. Tattoos are common in the novel and every gang member has some tattoo or another. The tattoos were used as a form of identification and thus Luis getting a tattoo is significant because it is a symbol for the fact that he was now determined to fully immerse himself in that lifestyle.
Violence is normal
One of the common motifs in the novel is the idea that violence and various gruesome acts were considered as being normal by the children living in the same community as Luis. For example, Luis mentions that one time, of their teachers had an accident at school and lost a few fingers. The children, instead of being affected in a negative way by the incident, were amused by it and began passing around the teacher’s fingers as if there was nothing wrong with it.
Get through the day
Luis, like other gang members, becomes a drug addict at an early age. In fact, he even mentions that by the age of 13, he was already hooked on drugs and unable to function without them. Another idea highlighted by Luis is that those who used drugs did not do it for fun by as a way to cope with their everyday struggles. Luis admits that at some points in his life, the drugs were the only things that helped him function as a normal human being. Also, the drugs helped the gang members deal with others problems such as depression.
Another body
Another common motif in the novel is the idea that everyone can die at any moment. Luis has various friends killed during car chases, shootings, altercation with other members or even suicide and drug overdose. Luis himself came close to dying on a few occasions so he knows that his situation could change in a blink of an eye. This uncertainty and the constant feeling of danger is another common motif in the novel.
Just like family
Another common motif found in the novel is the idea that gangs are like families. Because of this, every time a gang member dies, Luis feels as if he lost a brother and suffers as a result.
