Allegory of the Cave Review

The theme that resonates most strongly throughout the book Black Freedom Fighters in Steel and the movie "Boyz N' the Hood," is the unity among the members of both. Many of the characters in the movie and the people in the book are united, not only in a struggle for a common goal, but also in their individual lives as union or gang members. To demonstrate this commonality, the characters Tré, Darren, aka Doughboy, and Chris from the movie will be outlined as well as William Young, Johnnie Howard, and Curtis Strong from the book.

The movie's central character is Tré Styles, an angry, young black boy living with his mother in a single-parent household. Tré gets into a fight at school, which happens more often than not, and is sent to live with his father. Growing up in his father's care, he learns to become a responsible young adult. He becomes the teen that everyone knows will make it out of Compton and be able to succeed in life. Tré is the movies biggest success and largest enigma. He could do anything and be anything he wants, yet the movie follows Tré as he deals with being a virgin in the projects, takes the SAT's, and maintains friendships and extremely close ties with gang members and drug dealers. Tré does not have to maintain the familial ties with his friends that he does, he could chose to "hang" or "chill" with others who are more in his stratus yet he stays with his same group throughout the movie.

Of these friendships, the most confusing is his relationship with Doughboy. The only thing that Doughboy and Tré have in common is that they grew up together. To look at this pivotal friendship is to see the unity that ties all the film's characters together. Darren and Tré are complete opposites, yet they are as close as any of the characters. Tré can be seen as Darren's guiding source, he is the good influence that exerts minimal force over Darren's poor decisions. Though he tries to be a source of positivity in Darren's life, he does not push too hard nor does he stop his relationship with Doughboy, despite his knowledge of Darren's gang involvement. Tré and Darren remain united in their common and individual goals throughout the moving, ending with Tré attempting to make Darren see the error in his ways, showing him that he can end his gang lifestyle and move beyond it, exemplifying the unity that flows through the ghetto of Compton.

The counter-balance to the violence present in his life seems to be the role of his father, and to a lesser extent, his girlfriend. His father remains a constant influence in his life and pressures him to become a good man, despite all that Tré faces on a daily basis. His girlfriend is also a pivotal character on whom Tré comes to rely heavily in times of need or sorrow. With his father's help and their united efforts to make Tré succeed, he becomes a success and closes the movie with his entrance into college.

The audience is first introduced to Darren as a young member of Tré's group of friends. Later, Darren is presented as a teenager newly released from jail, which has happened numerous times. Darren's lifestyle can be considered a product of his childhood. He is constantly belittled by his mother and made to look like less than his brother, Ricky. It is obvious that the only true family he knows are his gang, and to a lesser extent Tré and Ricky. The connectivity between Darren and his gang is strong, to the extent that we rarely see him in the movie without them.

This is a movie's example of a real-life situation. There are many gangs in the United States, with a common theme of unity among members, no matter the consequences, running in the undercurrent. The movie does an excellent job portraying this, as well as the underlying causes for Darren's involvement in the gang lifestyle, mainly his lack of familial influence. It is obvious very early on that Darren's home life is a poor one, his mother plays a game of favorites and Darren loses every time, to the extent that she blames him for his brother's untimely death. As a result, Darren, his gang and Tré in tow, goes on a drive-by, eventually killing Ricky's murderer. His gang did not need to be involved, yet none of them hesitate, nor do they pause in pulling the triggers, though Doughboy does deliver the final shots.

As a whole, Doughboy's gang is united in almost all they do whether it is drinking, drugs, or murder. His gang is his family, commonly united in the gang and staying together. This unity is the only thing that some of them have, as evidenced by the lack of family in Compton. The assumption can be made that the members of Doughboy's gang have little to no family life, based on Darren's life and that the boys hardly, if ever, mention a family life. Most of them would have no inkling as to who their