Rule Of the Bone

Rule Of The Bone, written by Russell Banks, is a story told by a short fourteen year old

boy named Chappie, who endured a lot of pain and suffering. His father abandoned his

family when Chappie was five. When his mother remarried, he suffered from his

stepfather's abuse. Both his mother and stepfather were alcoholics and completely

ignored him. To gain attention, Chappie got a Mohawk haircut, pierced his ears, and

sported a nose ring. As an escape, Chappie started using drugs and stole his mother's

collection of valuable coins in order to pay for them. This totally infuriated his mother and

Chappie decided to leave home. Following this, Chappie lived in an apartment above a

video store with heavy metal bikers. A fire broke out, and Chappie left the apartment.

Next, Chappie and his friend Russ, camped out in an abandoned summer house. Chappie

eventually left and helped a young girl named Froggy escape from a drug addict and

Rule of the Bone

Buster Brown

Raiford State Prison baseball team

porno movie maker named Buster Brown. Chappie and Froggy then met up with a

religious Jamaican named I-man. Chappie felt that I-man was his teacher in life. After

meeting I-man, Chappie decided to send Froggy back to her mother. Chappie then

followed I-man to Jamaica where they dealt drugs to tourists. In Jamaica, Chappie ran

into his real father who took him and I-man back to live at the "mothership". At the

"mothership", Chappie ended up losing his virginity to his father's girlfriend. Finally,

I-man got killed, and Chappie became a part of a sea crew and set out on another voyage.

I think Rule Of The Bone is a great intriguing story. On one hand I could identify

and relate to this teenage boy and share some of his feelings. However, it made me

appreciate the security...