Throughout the week of memoir presentations, the main theme that kept reoccurring was the life growing up around gangs, violence, and drugs. One of which memoir that stood out was My Bloody Life written by Reymundo Sanchez which tells a story about a young teenager himself becoming a member of a street gang, the Latin Kings, and growing up in a family with an abusive mother and step-father. "The asshole had take off his leather belt and hit me with so much force that the skin in the places where he struck me was either black and blue or gone altogether"(Sanchez 20). This quote describes the violence life that would happen on the daily basis for Reymundo and his family. All through Reymundo's childhood he dealt with a lot of violence which led him to do violent stuff himself. After realizing he didn't fit in with any of the kids and got kicked out by his mother he eventually found the Latin Kings, a gang that was known to be the worst violence street gang in Chicago. Hanging around those certain type of people, Reymundo learned that it was fine to fight or kill people and that's actually he did at the age of fourteen. After several years of having a home and calling the members family, Reymundo separated from the Latin Kings and instead getting a college education. Although Reymundo grew up in a rough and poor community, he wanted to change his life around and stop the violence in his life. The violence that occurred in his past changed the way he looked at life. Despite his childhood of violence from his mother and step-father he knew that this wasn't what he wanted for himself. He knew it wasn't right and doesn't want to hurt people like he has once been.
The Pursuit of Happyness written by Chris Gardner was another memoir that was a depressing yet impressive story. Watching his step-father abuse his mother in his late childhood was very devastating and reflects his life every day. With raising his son, Christopher, in San Francisco he struggles finding a job and eventually becoming homeless throughout the year. "Don't ever let someone tell you that you can't do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period" (Gardner). This quote is very strong because Chris is telling his readers that people can't give up on their dreams, they need to pursue them. Chris had a dream, even though he went through problems finding jobs, he believed in himself that he could accomplish what he needed to be accomplished. Christopher and Chris had a good relationship throughout the misery. When Chris was younger he didn't know his father until later in his life and doesn't want that to happen to his son. I met my father for the first time when I was 28 years old. I made up my mind that when I had children, my children were going to know who their father was"(Gardner). He knew his father had made a mistake in not building a relationship with his son and Chris learned that he didn't want that to happen with him and Christopher. The setting Chris had mentioned in the book about how he slept in a bathroom with his son was very meaningful because it was a time where he felt hopeless and discouraged in himself that he would live like this forever. Towards the end of the book Chris didn't give up on his dream and got a job that changed him and Christopher's lives forever. Chris Gardner wants to teach of his readers that your dream will come if they patiently wait until the time is right. story
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