Not an Easy Win

The novel’s inciting incident is Lawrence’s expulsion from the seventh grade. This sets up several key conflicts that Lawrence will struggle with throughout the novel as he goes through his journey of growth and maturity. The first is Lawrence’s conflict with the society he lives in, as he feels as though no one will listen to him and instead see him as “the problem” (4). He is adamant that he did not start the fights but instead was responding to being bullied by the other students for being one of the only Black students in the school. It is not a coincidence that the school with a majority-white student body is named Andrew Jackson Middle School. As the United States’ seventh president, Jackson is a controversial figure. Notably, he was the white owner of a Tennessee plantation and enslaved hundreds of Black people during his lifetime, even bringing five enslaved people to live and labor at the White House. Additionally, his leadership as a military general led to the forced removal of Indigenous populations from their native lands. Despite this, many schools and buildings are named after Jackson. The school’s namesake of a leader who enslaved Black Americans and upheld white supremacist ideology mirrors the anti-Black, racist behavior of Lawrence’s white classmates who bully him.

Lawrence’s bitterness and anger over his expulsion introduce the theme of Blame Versus Accountability. One key component of his character is that he places blame on things around him—including people and even inanimate objects. He blames the students’ bullying for his expulsion; his Pop for why Granny doesn’t like him, insisting that she only treats Lawrence poorly because he reminds her of Pop; and certain days of the week for the bad moments in his life. This cycle of blame is a key aspect of Lawrence’s characterization at the start of the novel; he refuses to take any accountability for what he goes through and why people don’t like him or empathize with the systemic factors that have caused his family to have a difficult life. While the bullying is not Lawrence’s fault nor in his control, he blames other things entirely for his situation without accepting any responsibility for his actions, including fighting.

Another key conflict in the novel that is introduced in the opening chapters is the one between Lawrence and Granny. When Lawrence arrives home, he gets a cold reception from Granny, who immediately insists that he is to blame for his expulsion. Lawrence overhears Granny talking with Ma as Granny argues that he can’t stay around the house all day doing nothing and that he is “almost a man” (17). She treats Lawrence coldly, refusing to discuss his expulsion with him or allow him any reprieve, instead insisting that “a man that don’t work don’t eat” (12). Although Lawrence hides his feelings about Granny, he inwardly thinks of how unfair she is toward him. He is annoyed by the food that she prepares and her penchant for citing gospels, and he walks several miles into town to avoid being with her during the day. He thinks of how “when [they] moved in, she just stopped being nice at all—to [him], anyway” (21). He is convinced that she sees Pop reflected in himself and, therefore, has a dislike of Lawrence through no fault of his own.

The conflict between these two characters introduces the theme of Empathy and Compassion. Both Lawrence and Granny initially refuse to have any empathy for the situation that the other is going through. While there is value in what Granny says about Lawrence’s behavior, she also fails to acknowledge that he is only 12 years old and has been getting bullied regularly at school, coupled with the fact that he is dealing with a new home and the loss of his father. Similarly, Lawrence does not recognize that the family’s poverty necessitates the food they eat. Granny allows not only Lawrence’s family to move in but also Ivy and Iris to live there throughout the week, cooking and caring for her daughter and four of her grandchildren. Throughout the novel, the two will learn to respect each other and show increased compassion for what they are going through.

Through the difficulties that Lawrence faces, music—a recurring motif in the novel—is an important coping mechanism that he uses to escape from his problems. In particular, the music that he listens to is on an iPod already loaded with Pop’s favorite music. As Lawrence goes into town to think about his expulsion and the situation he is in, he puts in his earbuds and plays the music. He notes how music can “take you right to another place” (19), as he swings higher and higher and imagines “flying over this stupid town—to a place with less meanness, a place where things were good, and the bad things weren’t [his] fault” (24). Music serves not only as a connection to Pop—whom he has not seen for over a year—but also as a form of escape from the world around him, including his present difficulties.