Black And White Conflict Analysis

Black and White, a novel written by Paul Volponi, tells the story of two teenagers by the name of Marcus and Eddie. Marcus, who is black, lives on the rough side of town, while Eddie, who is white, lives on the nice side of town. Despite their differences in looks and social class, the two quickly become the best of friends. The two are inseparable, they share love for basketball and are teammates on the high school squad. Their brotherly bond has earned them the nicknames, Black And White. With college scouts coming to see both boys play, the future looks bright for Eddie and especially Marcus. Unfortunately, as the cliché goes, all good things must come to an end and Marcus and Eddie’s brotherly bond is soon tested.
Both Marcus and Eddie didn’t have a job, because both boys believed that it would be embarrassing

Conflict is a literary device used for expressing a resistance the protagonist of the story finds in achieving his aims and dreams. The conflict is fairly easy to recognize, Marcus’s decision to either sell out his best friend or take the blame and risk his chances of getting out of the projets. Not only that, but about everything in this book leads to conflict. Towards the end of the book, Eddie starts to distance himself from Marcus, believing that he’s actually the guilty one due based on what his parents were telling him. For example, Eddie’s mother states that “it’s where Marcus lives... it’s the projects. There is crime all around him. It was probably too big of a temptation” (Volponi 2005 53). I spent the whole morning at school dodging questions about Marcus... They were asking me about Marcus like I was his brother. (Volponi 2005 55). Similarly, Marcus’s mother begins to turn Marcus against Eddie and his parents. For example, Marcus’ mother states “It’s Black and White until somebody’s ass is on the line. And when it’s time to go to jail, it’s just Black” (Volponi 2005