Black and White

In the book Black and White by Paul Volponi the two characters, Marcus (black) and Eddie (white) are the stars of their Long Island City High school basketball team. In their friendship they deal with some racial issues, gun violence and robbery. Marcus and Eddie start robbing people despite their coach telling them to stay out of trouble they can’t stay out of it. So one night they rob a black man and Marcus accidently pulls the trigger to Eddie’s grand father’s gun, they soon realize that their dream of getting into a good college are shattered, and their futures change forever. I think that they should have realized simple things like robbing people and killing them can change their lives forever.

One way that night can change their lives forever is, getting into college. When applying to anything you don’t want to have anything bad on your record especially going to jail when you are 17 years old. Even though Marcus did get into a College before the incident he really screwed up his future. Also Eddie should have never taken the gun from his grandfather, he should have known that this was wrong and even if he didn’t get caught this time he would the next. I think this could have been a lesson for Marcus and Eddie.

Another thing this could have affected is their careers. If the colleges St. Johns doest want Marcus anymore then he will not be able to go to a college with a strong basketball team. Marcus and Eddie were the stars of their high school basketball teams but now they have fallen into a very big hole with the gun violence. I’m pretty sure that Marcus wanted to be a basketball player because the book does not say he has other talents that he could be a professional on. I think Marcus and Eddie really screwed up and should have learned from this.

In conclusion I think that they two main characters should have learned from this mistake because it can affect their future in a big way. I wonder if they regret their decision and can move on from it.