Andrew Mack
English 1b
Prof. Knapp
7 March, 2011
The Flowers from Readers Response Theory
“The Flowers”, written by Dagoberto Gilb, is a heart rending novel of a Mexican-American boy named Sonny Bravo as he is thrown into a world of racial prejudice and extreme violence. In the beginning of the story, Sonny had no real relationships to speak of. Even his own mother, Sylvia, was distanced and more concerned with her own satisfaction too possibly spend time with Sonny. There are not even any other human beings around him, he never knew his father, and his only sister left when he was younger. In fact, the only real relationship Sonny had at this time was with his dog, Goofy, and if that is not Unhealthy then I do not know what is. However, Sonny is forced to go through some major changes very quickly as his mother remarries to a man named Cloyde, and is then forced to move into Cloyde’s apartment complex. This, however, turns out to be a positive experience for Sonny as he begins to learn how to form real relationships with others and the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Throughout the novel, Sonny takes small steps one at a time towards this goal, and by the end of the novel he learns what it means to form relationships as well as how to be a man.
Sonny begins the story by telling us a very interesting yet disturbing secret. He tells us that before moving to Los Floras, Cloyde’s apartment complex, he would break into his neighbors homes and just look around. He didn’t really take anything, at least not much, the most he ever took was a couple hundred dollars he found. He just looked around. He tells us that he would look at the photographs *and notice certain things*. This is Sonny trying to find what a true family should act like, what a true home feels like. He is trying to compensate for his own feeling of lost. Sonny grew up without any real father figure in his life and he is looking to feel that void. Nobody who grows up with both their father and mother can understand what this could feel like, I does not even compute for them. It is especially for a young boy without a father. There is nobody there to teach you how to be a man, so Sonny is extremely confused, and as a confused young boy looking for answers, Sonny breaks into these houses looking for those answer.
However there is more than just the missing father figure, a lot more in fact. Sonny is also looking for a home. Yes he has a place to live, however that is not necessarily a home. A home is a place where you feel welcome and safe. His “home” consists of him alone all the time with his mother constantly coming and going. That is not very welcoming, in fact that is rather discouraging. *Then when it comes to feeling safe, he was attacked, and stabbed by a knife.*
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