Los Angeles Riots: A Comparative Analysis

The Los Angeles riots will not be forgotten in the history of the United States of America. The riots started after the verdict of the Rodney King Case when the police officers who brutally beat up a black man, Rodney King, were acquitted. The Los Angeles riots yield 53 deaths, over 2000 injuries, and over 11,000 arrests. In Anna Deveare Smith’s Twilight, she collects monologues from a diverse group of people regarding the riots in Los Angeles. The two monologues that will be compared are Elvira Evers’ “To Look Like Girls from Little,” performed by Isabella DeRosa, and Twilight Bey’s “Limbo/Twilight #2,” performed by Jared Shapiro. The monologues in Anna Deveare Smith’s Twilight accurately depict the harsh environment in the underprivileged

One example of how Evers develops her thesis that Los Angeles is a warzone is while speaking of the riots Evers’ friend says “Girl, you should see that it’s getting worst” (118). This is one reaction towards the hostility during the Los Angeles riots. Los Angeles resembles a warzone during the riots. Evers’ monologue continues to depict Los Angeles as a warzone when Evers’ friend tells her “Lay down there. Let me call St. Francis and tell them that you been shot and to send an ambulance” (119). Los Angeles resembles a warzone during the riots because people do not get shot randomly when checking to see what is happening outside of their domiciles. This is equivalent imagery to a wounded soldier waiting for a medic on the battlefield. One example of how Bey develops his thesis that he is ahead of his time in terms of his intelligence and ideas is when many people say that Twilight is “a lot smarter and [has] a lot more wisdom than those twice [his] age” (253). Bey develops his thesis further by explaining that his name Twilight means that he has “twice the knowledge of those [his] age, twice the understanding of those [his] age” (254). Bey proves his thesis by explaining how other people commend him for his knowledge and the origin of his