Review Of Fist Stick Knife Gun By: A Personal History Of Violence

Fist Stick Knife Gun By: A Personal History of Violence is a well written memoir by Geoffrey Canada. Canada informs his readers his story of growing up in the South Bronx, and how violence was a constant fact of life. He explains how violence is instilled in children from a very young age, and he uses this to explain how our culture needs to change so children don't have to experience the things he saw and went through. Throughout his book, Canada describes the combination of the weapons kids have access to and what parents teach their kids about violence as “America’s war against itself.” From his “dangerous” childhood to his teenage years Canada makes it obvious that the environment of which he was raised forever impacted his future and his

He states “violence has always been around, usually concentrated among the poor.”(pg23) From his experience of growing up in the ghetto to seeing it now, he argues, popular culture has strongly influenced and supported an ethic of violence. He describes how the different kinds of violence evolved from his childhood to him being an adult. He explains that when he was a kid,when a problem emerged, him and his friends would solve it using their fists and sometimes weapons such as small knives. But as time passed and he got older, he realized that the drug cartel’s influence on violence changed violence forever. Canada explains because of the environment young kids are raised in selling drugs was the only option they had. So when they were caught, guns were the only solution they had. This led “Kids with guns often see no limits on their power.”(Pg100) This changed the history of violence forever because it provided power without the natural checks of violence of size and skill that were previously in

One of the lessons was the fact that trust was a major problem for kids in his environment. He explains that kids in the ghetto as well as young kids in general try to solve problems by themselves instead of bringing the problem to an adult. He tries to explain that kids don’t understand that there is a difference between being labeled as a snitch or asking for help. In one scene of the book canada explains “Before Robert left we went over the drill for what you should do when someone might be trying to kill you. The drill was a collection of do’s and don’ts learned over the years by the mistakes others had made, often costing them their lives:…I’ve gone over this drill too many times with too many kids.” (pg 94) Kids at his age should never have discussions like this or worry about being killed. Instead of coming to an adult for help they try to solve problems by themselves. Also the neighborhood canada grew up in kids have access to weapons they should not have. He explains “Kids with guns often see no limits on their power.”(pg100) They see guns as their “safe place” or it gives them confidence that they can do anything they want.
So when they see a toy or an item someone has, their solution would be try to fight for it. In other times kids try to fight other kids that are above them so they won't get bullied or pushed around. Canada uses many stories trying