Final Draft- Critical Analysis The Flowers

A Transformation to Maturity

           In the novel The Flowers Sonny is a typical American teenage boy. His mom remarries and is forced to live with a step-father that he didn’t hand pick. Some would say that Sonny’s violent behavior is not normal for his age, however I would disagree and say that he is acting how most teenage boys would who live under the same circumstances. While reading this novel I have seen Sonny go through a lot of events and have been able to see how he reacts to each of them. Sonny has matured over the course of the novel, in the beginning he was confused and angry and when the novel came to a close he seemed more at peace and happy. As a reader response theorist I am going to examine Sonny’s transformation by looking at who influenced him, what decisions he made that were good and bad and also what Sonny did at the end to show his maturity had grown.
           Sonny has influences all around him and like any teenager he’s going to be influenced by them. Pink was one influence that at first I didn’t believe would be a good person for Sonny to be around. Their relationship was odd and I don’t think Sonny even understood Pink that well. Pink wanted Sonny to be his eyes and ears when he wasn’t around, and in return Pink gave him the Bel Air. In this relationship Sonny did what he was told without asking to many questions about why but I could tell Sonny was often confused with Pink’s behavior. Although in the end Sonny was not physically hurt by this man he did get a car in return. While living at The Flowers Sonny also met Cindy, who I think was a negative influence. From the beginning Sonny knew that Cindy was bad news and that what he did with her was not good. Sonny did not have any previous experience with having sex and trying drugs before he met Cindy.
           Maybe because she was a persuasive pretty girl that’s why he went along with it. Sonny knew that he would be in a lot of trouble with her husband Tino, if he found out. It took Sonny a while but he finally figured out that hanging out with Cindy would only cause him trouble. There was some negative influences but one person had a positive influence on Sonny without even knowing it. In my opinion Nica humbled Sonny, she really got to the heart of him and he realized things that he might have not other wise without her relationship. He wanted her to see him as a friend, so I think that he unconsciously stopped seeing Cindy because of Nica. Also he studied French more so he would impress her with his knowledge and make her smile. Nica was a bright spot in his life and her influence was a good one for him.
           With so many relationships that Sonny had it was hard to pick only a few to identify. Though I could not leave out Sonny’s relationship with his mother, Sylvia, who did not have a typical relationship with her son. Sylvia seemed more concerned about herself and what she was doing then her son and his whereabouts. Sonny noticed that his mom always had her mind on something else and didn’t have a lot of time for him. She also was not very affectionate and they hardly ever talked. I would say that Sylvia didn’t have any idea that Sonny liked to bowl and study French. I felt like she was a disconnected mother, worried about her life and didn’t have enough time for her son. For example, “I tried to tell my mom but she didn’t hear me. She wasn’t dressed for listening or like she had been in the kitchen for very long or like she was planning to stay there either” (Gilb 76). Sylvia not listening did bother Sonny for the most part, because in the novel he would comment on it. He seemed to have gotten his independence from Sylvia, which was a good thing because he wouldn’t have made it through the novel without it.
            Sonny’s independence gave him the freedom to make his own decisions, good or bad. In the beginning and though out most of the novel Sonny made many bad decisions. He would steal money, and once he started to do that he felt like he needed more money which lead to more stealing. Why Sonny stole is something that I don’t exactly have an answer for. One theory I have is that it made him feel secure, in case something was to happen he would have money to handle it. When Sonny realized he was beginning to get low on funds he knew he would have to find and steal more. Then he found the stash of money hidden in Cloyd’s desk and he took it. Its ironic that in the end stealing helped Sonny help someone who really needed it.
             The bad decisions didn’t stop at stealing money. Sonny’s decision to hang out with Cindy was not good either, until he figured that out Sonny was still getting caught up with her. Cindy was the older more experienced girl who could easily take advantage of someone like Sonny who didn’t know better. He did learn that being around her could easily get him killed so he began to avoid her. There is other behavior that I can only attribute to being a teenage boy who is going to lash out. For example when Sonny beat up an old man and then stole his wallet. “He was on the sidewalk and he was down and I should have walked off…I was jacked up…And then I did something I’d never done. It’s because I could see his wallet bulging from the back pocket of his pants. I reached down and took it and walked away” (Gilb 148). This really wasn’t necessary and Sonny did feel bad but he was feeling very angry and didn’t know how to deal with this anger so he lashed out.
             Although Sonny was independent it didn’t mean he made only bad decisions, he also made good ones. When Cloyd asked Sonny to do a few things around the complex Sonny did them mostly without complaint. He would sweep and clean everyone’s screens on their windows. He also painted the sign for their building, Los Flores. Although he did expect to get paid for painting the sign, Cloyd never did pay him, however Sonny did continue to clean up around the apartments. I think this work was good for Sonny, it kept him busy. Another good decision was Sonny’s relationship with Nica and how she was a good influence on him. It surprised me in the beginning that they became friends with there language barrier. Sonny is from a Hispanic background like Nica but hasn’t spoken the language as much since his grandmother past away. Although him and Nica got along just fine even if Sonny’s Spanish wasn’t as good as hers.
           Towards the very end of the novel there was a lot going on with the rioting happening. It seemed as though no one was calm and everything was in an uproar. In those last final pages Sonny was the man I had hoped he would become for Nica. Ironically in the end Nica was the one who was thought to have stolen money. She wanted to get out of there and go back to her home in Mexico, and Sonny came to her rescue. He didn’t think twice about helping Nica, he just did it. He told her to get packed, got all his money from its hiding place, he even thought of what to do about Angel. Before he left with Nica Sonny called 911 and said there was a baby alone and gave the location. They battled the streets of the boulevard together and he got Nica to the bus station safely. She was very upset and wanted him to go with her, but somehow that never did cross his mind. At least he did finally get to tell her that he loved her, even if it was in French and he got to hear her say it to him. “I wish that you would go with me, she said, because I love you, Sonny…Je t’aime, I said” (Gilb 249). Sonny then gave her all of his money without a second thought and sent her home to Mexico. I don’t think Sonny had it pre-planned to get rid of his money by way of Nica. I think he just wanted her to be saved from the life she was living and set her free. He acted like a grown mature man who could handle anything. I was very proud of how selfless Sonny had become.
             Throughout the book I was able to see the changes in Sonny that made him into a more mature young man. I looked at who influenced Sonny, the decisions he made and how that effected him and finally how he had grown up over the course of a short time. In responding to this novel I wish that I could say that the book tied up more loose ends but it didn’t do that, it left you wondering about what happens to Sonny after Nica is gone. What I did find to be a very good ending was that Nica was saved, because Sonny was able to pull through for the one he loved in the end.