ENG1D-03
A great person once said, "With a little devil on my left shoulder and an angel on my right, both telling me what I should do,". Friendship is a dominant theme in the novel Dear Martin by Nic Stone, but friendships are not always good. Throughout the novel, Justyce struggles with decisions about school, making the right choices, and deals with legal issues. Justyce is surrounded by opposing forces in his friendships that both help and hinder him with his struggles.
There were many different reactions of Justyce’s acceptance into school. Justyce's friend, Jared, was not supportive of his academic achievements. When he discovered that Justyce got into Yale while he got deferred, he responded by accusing, him of, "[taking] a spot [he] didn't get because Yale has to fill a quota--" (Stone, 61) and even expressed disbelief at hearing Justyce's test scores, replying, "Dude, there's no way he got a thirty-four." (Stone, 60). Jared could not accept the fact that Justyce got accepted into Yale while he was deferred and tried to bring Justyce down. His comments made Justyce wonder why he should try so hard to succeed if no one will give him credit for it. Even though Justyce had this negative feedback about his academics, he also had a positive influence to support him. SJ was excited for Justyce's success and showed her support for him by defending him against anyone who tried to bring him down. When he shared the news that he got into Yale, she excitedly said, "This is the best Hanukkah present ever!" (Stone, 53). When Jared accused Justyce of only getting into Yale because of his race, she jumped in, saying, "Justyce got in because he deserved to." (Stone, 61). Justyce's girlfriend, SJ, was very supportive of his academic achievements. In summation Justyce was given many different reactions to his acceptance into Yale.
Justyce ends up getting in trouble with the cops because of decisions he makes. Justyce's friend, Quan, asked Justyce to meet up with him while he was in jail and encouraged him to meet up with members of the Black Jihad gang causing negative legal consequences. Justyce's decision to meet with these people affected the outcome of his shooter's trial as, "[his] exposed connection to known gang members, including sixteen-year-old Quan Banks, the young man charged with murdering Tison's partner last August, cast a considerable pall over the proceedings" (Stone, 193). Because Justyce visited Quan and members of the Black Jihad gang,...
