Snakes
Kotlowitz writes, “The boys had got the idea for this urban safari when last year an older friend named William had nabbed a garter snake and showed it off to all the kids…Lafayette had never touched such an animal before, and he and the others had eagerly crowded around William’s pet, admiring its yellow-and-black coat and its darting orange tongue.” Here, the boys are searching for snake that they would turn into a pet. Their minds are fixed on harmless snake that is similar to William’s. Their experience with William’s snake convinces them about the beauty of snakes and the reality about the existence of harmless snakes.
The Home
Kotlowitz reports, “THE CHILDREN called home “Hornets” or more frequently, “the projects” or, simply, the “jects” (pronounced jets).Pharaoh called it “the graveyard.”…Their building had no enclosed lobby; a dark tunnel cut through the middle of the building, and the wind and strangers passed freely along it…the buildings first-floor mailboxes had all been broken into. And since darkness engulfed the building’s corridors even in the daytime, the residents always carried flashlights.”
Based on the children's descriptions, the home is absolutely uncomfortable. There darkness in the tunnel underscores that the building lacks sufficient lighting. Moreover, the status of the mailboxes underscores the inherent insecurity in the building. It would be impossible to receive welfare checks through the mailboxes securely. The necessity of flashlights depicts the building as an insecure and uncomfortable tunnel.
“Lafayette’s Birthday”
Kotlowitz writes, “Suddenly, gunfire erupted. The frightened children fell to the ground. “Hold your head down!” Lafayette snapped, as he covered Dede’s head with her pink nylon jacket. If he hadn’t physically restrained her, she might have sprinted for home, a dangerous cation when the gangs started warring.” The gunfire depicts the omnipresence of gun violence and gang fights in the area. Lafayette could have easily died on his birthday, not due to his fault, but due to the unpredictable gang fights in the locality. The neighborhood is not absolutely secure for children to engage in ordinary activities such as birthday celebrations.
Decay
Kotlowitz reports, “LaJoe had watched and held on as the neighbourhood slowly decayed, as had many urban communities like Horner over the past two decades. First, the middle-class whites fled to the suburbs. The middle-class blacks left for safer neighborhoods. Then businesses moved, some to the suburbs, others to the South. Over the past ten years, the city had lost a third of its manufacturing jobs, and there were few jobs left for those who lived in Henry Horner.”
The relocation of the middle-class is contributory to the deterioration of the neighborhood, for it creates room for the low-class to move in or to remain there. The diminishing manufacturing jobs result in high poverty rates within the neighborhood. Crime and poverty flourish due to the lack of employment opportunities in Horner. Eventually, the neighborhood becomes an insecure and unappealing place for new manufacturing companies to invest there.
