Rough Draft: The Flowers
The Flowers by Dagoberto Gilb is set some time in the seventies, where there was a lot of racism going on. The main character Sonny, is a young innocent teenager just trying to live day by day at this new home called Los Flores. He is brought here by his mom’s new boyfriend. Although Sonny believes that this man, Cloyd, will not be staying very long in life he tries to find a way to keep himself entertained. Previously, he lived with his mother in a not so safe neighborhood. He stayed most of the time there alone. He only had his dog, Goofy, to keep him company. Towards the end of the novel, the readers find out that Sonny live in South Central Los Angeles, where riots started to break out. Sonny has always had to experience such tough situation, which is mainly because of his environment. Throughout the novel, Sonny has to face the impacts the setting has thrown at him, which has also shaped him to become the man he ends up being at the end of the novel.
At the beginning of the novel, Sonny reveals to the audience that he has a hobby. His hobby is to steal money. He goes into people houses when no one is home and likes to imagine a different world, a world where he is happy and imagines himself living in those nice homes, rather than where he and his mother lives. “If I felt like it, if I had the mood, I sprawled out on their couches or lay down on their beds. Go, How would I be if I lived here? I’d let that come into me, I’d let my mind go to the show it liked. Maybe you could say I go off to my own world. To me it wasn’t mine, nothing like mine, because it would go to black” (Gilb 2). Sonny describes how he likes to gaze off into his own world and tries to forget his own. He likes to imagine a world different from his when he is in different homes. He doesn’t like to picture his reality because the only brings him dark emotions, which is why he thinks of the color black. He wants a family and a happy home, but he doesn’t have that at his home.
He goes on to say that his mother in never really with him most of the time. He feels alone and has no one to be with except Goofy. His mother is always working and going out. He sees his mom be with a new guy frequently and doesn’t know what the love of a father is. All he wants from his mother is love and attention, but Silvia, Sonny’s mom, doesn’t have time for him. One of Silvia’s ex boyfriends goes to Sonny’s house looking for Silvia, but Sonny tells him that she is not there. This man knocks down the door and is furious because he thinks that Sonny is lying to him. He later stabs Sonny when they get into an altercation, but Sonny doesn’t bother to tell his mom that he came by and more importantly that he was stabbed. Sonny is used to these living conditions, that he goes on about his life like nothing ever happened. His neighborhood has forced him to grow up and toughen up because he has to know how to survive.
His mother comes home later with a new boyfriend by the name of Cloyd. Sonny isn’t sold on this new guy his mom brings home, but he lets it slide because he believes that this is just another guy that his mom will get over. So, Sonny and his mom have to move with him because Cloyd is the owner of some apartments called Los Flores. Sonny is exposed to new things here at Los Flores that a teenager should not be exposed to. Cloyd puts Sonny to work for him and do some chores around Los Flores, this leads Sonny to explore the story and those people behind the story that that apartment has to offer. He first comes in contact with a young married girl by the name of Cindy. He lies to her and tells her that he is much older than he truly is. Sonny is left with curiosity as to what she married young, but what he didn’t know is that she was going to be a gateway to new first for Sonny.
Sonny later sees Nica, an innocent girl that is stuck at home taking care of her siblings. Sonny is really fascinated by her and really likes her. She wants to get know her and know more about her. He later comes in contact with a black man by the nickname of Pink. Pink takes Sonny under his wing and makes Sonny feel likes he is important. He calls Sonny little brother. “‘You wanna drive this?’ Pink asked. I drank beer before, got drunk on it, but not malt liquor- I liked drinking and being in the car with the windows down” (Gilb 64). Pink was influencing Sonny to break the rules and misbehave. Sonny is not even old enough to have his permit, much less drive and drink. Sonny enjoys spending time with Pink though because Sonny doesn’t think what he is doing is bad and is lets him forget his reality back home with Cloyd and Silvia. Pink later uses Sonny to get to work for him and tell him what Cloyd and Cloyd’s friend, Bud, think of him. Pink suspects that Cloyd doesn’t like him living at Los Flores because he is black, so he gets Sonny to go undercover for him.
Los Flores also introduces Sonny to Cindy. Cindy and Sonny’s relationship is full of lust. Cindy is lonely at the apartment because her husband is never home. She takes and interest in Sonny and seduces Sonny. Sonny loses his innocence to her. “‘Go on, touch me.” I reached my hand under the bikini top until it moved up and I was feeling her. She felt really good, big, soft. It was good. It was really good” (Gilb 72). Sonny goes on to have sexual intercourse with her almost every time she sees her. Cindy also influences Sonny to try new types of drugs with her. He has experimented with cigarettes before, but Cindy pushes him to try even more drugs and mixes drugs together too. He does it under peer pressure so that Cindy doesn’t see that he’s afraid to try it and discover he is actually younger than what he told her.
Los Flores also introduces Sonny to racism. Cloyd and Bud don’t like black people and aren’t so thrilled with Pink living at Los Flores. They don’t like Mexicans very much either, but they tolerate them because Cloyd is with Silvia. Bud is Cloyd’s sidekicks and also gets into an altercation with Sonny when Bud is looking for Cloyd. At this point Sonny has changed and has become very aggressive and doesn’t let himself get pushed around by Bud. “‘Hey!’ I screamed. “Don’t yell at my mom, fuckass!’… ‘I can get that that asshole, I swear I can. With a bat if I have to. Make him fucked up.’ I was looking at that shotgun’” (Gilb 221-222). Sonny was more reserved and laid back at the beginning of the novel and now he gets more easily irritated and fires back. He doesn’t let himself get pushed around and is more aggressive and even carries a rock towards at the end of the novel to defend himself.
