As you start The Corner, reflect on its relation to The Wire, and how it compares with our other books.
One thought on “Open thread on part 1 of The Corner”
Tom Ladeau
The big thing that strikes me about clockers (and the obvious thing) is its concentration on a particular neighborhood in West Baltimore. Like The Wire, it is more about the place than it is about the people. It does focus on three characters–DeAndre, Fran, and Gary–but the constant theme is the place and the neighborhood’s effect on the people. Also like The Wire, The Corner highlights again and again the cyclical and unescapable nature of the drug game. It is interesting to see the game from the point of view of both young dealers (who also just neighborhood kids at the same time) and the people who are addicted to the hard drugs that are being sold. Something The Corner does that The Wire does not (so far) is show how the roles of drug dealer and user overlap, and one can lead to the other. It shows how one can get stuck in this cycle: the easiest way to get money is to go sling some dope or coke, or else get involved in “capers” which amount to petty crimes or ways of making a quick buck. One is involved with drugs wherever they turn which makes escaping incredibly difficult. Another obstacle to escaping is the lonliness that comes with getting clean. If everyone you know is somehow involved in the drug game (dealing or using), getting clean can often mean that you alienate your friends.
It will be interesting to see whether or not any characters are able to make it out of the vicious cycle by the end of the book.
The big thing that strikes me about clockers (and the obvious thing) is its concentration on a particular neighborhood in West Baltimore. Like The Wire, it is more about the place than it is about the people. It does focus on three characters–DeAndre, Fran, and Gary–but the constant theme is the place and the neighborhood’s effect on the people. Also like The Wire, The Corner highlights again and again the cyclical and unescapable nature of the drug game. It is interesting to see the game from the point of view of both young dealers (who also just neighborhood kids at the same time) and the people who are addicted to the hard drugs that are being sold. Something The Corner does that The Wire does not (so far) is show how the roles of drug dealer and user overlap, and one can lead to the other. It shows how one can get stuck in this cycle: the easiest way to get money is to go sling some dope or coke, or else get involved in “capers” which amount to petty crimes or ways of making a quick buck. One is involved with drugs wherever they turn which makes escaping incredibly difficult. Another obstacle to escaping is the lonliness that comes with getting clean. If everyone you know is somehow involved in the drug game (dealing or using), getting clean can often mean that you alienate your friends.
It will be interesting to see whether or not any characters are able to make it out of the vicious cycle by the end of the book.