Angel A. Ortiz Martinez
English 1109 at 2:35 T
October 20, 2020
Journal 6
The experience of having Maurice and Bob in our zoom meeting and able to have a closer look of the book was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We could hear him explain to a degree his chapters and his being as well. It was a neat opportunity to encounter. It’s crazy to think we are the only ones actually studying the book as a class.
One of the takeaways was a closer insight on how he educated himself with books through his sentence. Books made him realize and find himself a lot more mentally and, in a sense, spiritually. He knew his mistakes and he was paying the price, he stated that prison was the waking call for him. The knowledge of books made him change his ways. Books made him realize the power they hold.
The second takeaway would be that Maurice devoted his life to help younger kids who are in similar paths that he found himself to be in. He doesn’t want young kids to be taking the choices that he took and live with the consequences. He wanted to make sure that the kids knew there’s better ways and opportunities on how to take on life. This is where Maurice is driven to do helping and making the difference. He is building the future generation and transforming lives.
The third takeaway for me it was the timing for all of this. The efforts that they did to have this book published and, in a sense,, I see this as a motivation due to the fact that when he got out he wanted to work on this book so he can spread his message out to the young troubled kids. This book shows a message in which having self-determination, ego and willpower you can do anything. I do understand that this is his autobiography, but this is what I learned within reading through the book. On the epilogue we can see his business: “The Red Zone provides social support to people in need and young people, old people, who are using, people who quit using, etc. Our motto is simple: we are dedicated to helping our clients discover their strengths and abilities to assist them in reaching their full potential (Clarett 251-252.” This is why Clarett is devoted to help society, so they don’t go and pass pain and stress or even death. It is a very noble cause.
How books can change a person is something that I took away from the book as well. Reading and writing allows a person to reflect and learn new things. Whether it be intellectual purposes or just pure fun. I need to look into the books that Clarett read like “As a Man Thinketh.” Could be fun!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, It should be very interesting to read the exact books Clarett read in prison to see the information he learned out of them. It should be a good experience to have.
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