Fist Stick Knife Gun
Violence was a huge recurring issue throughout Geoffrey Canada’s book Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun. The book drew upon numerous incidents of violence encountered by Geoffrey himself, his daughter, and his students. As a child growing up in the Bronx, it was essential that Canada knew how to fight. Ironically not fighting often caused more pain and difficulties in the long run than fighting did. Canada was an intelligent child and was more advanced than many of his peers in the community therefore he was placed in more advanced classes. The problem with these classes was that students often associated being smart with being weak and not being able to stand up for yourself. In the Bronx, fighting at school was a norm and it was a way to gain respect from your peers. Canada chose to fight as a child because he knew doing so would have a positive impact on his educational experience. Proving that he was both smart and tough was essential to his survival in the Bronx. Canada’s daughter on the other hand, growing up in Boston was not raised around the scale of violence that he had grown up with. One day while on the bus she was attacked by another child, her face was bleeding from being scratched. Prior to this event she had no worries and never focused much on violence. Unfortunately after this incident she was forced to realize that violence is a reality for many people even at school, where you think you are the safest. Both Canada and his daughter had to face the reality that violence was unfortunately a norm in their communities. It was important for them to not let others take advantage of them and to be able to stand up for themselves if need be. They also understood that violence was a last resort, they did not go looking for trouble and tried to solve issues with conversation as much as they could. The fact that Canada grew up in the South Bronx equipped him with the capabilities to truly be successful at his job. He was fortunate to be of the