The Dying Ground by Tramble, N - Book Report/Review Example

 The Dying Ground by Tramble, N. The book The Dying Ground is a novel that is set in 1989 in Oakland, in the middle of the gang wars. This was also the year of the major earthquake, but for some reason, this was never mentioned in the book. The major characters are Maceo, who is the narrator; Holly, who was Maceo’s best friend from the time that they were kids; Felicia, who was the girl who Maceo was in love with; and Billy, who, although was not a character in the book, per se, because he was dead, was still the driving force behind the book and was symbolic of all that was going on in the book. When we first meet Maceo, he is basically a good guy. He was a baseball standout, and we learn that he had attended college at UC-Berkeley, a very prestigious college. We also learn that his mother died when his father gave her a lethal dose of heroin and cocaine on the day that Maceo was born, and, four years after that, his father was killed. He was raised by his grandparents, who tried to keep him straight, and, for the most part, succeeded. Maceo was not involved with the drug trade, and seemed not to have any bad habits, such as smoking dope and drinking too much. However, right from the first, the reader learns that all is not what it seems with Maceo – that perhaps his life was not as charmed as it might seem on the surface, what with him being a star athlete and being accepted to a top-tier college. For Maceo has a friend, probably as smart as Maceo, if not smarter, named Holly, and Holly was renowned in the drug trade for his ability to cut drugs into multiples so that dealers could get a bigger bang for their buck. It did not seem that Holly was a dealer himself, but he had a skill that made him invaluable and he definitely helped the dealers, so he might as well had been one. Holly was his name because of the street that he grew up on, and his real name was Jonathan Ford. Holly was a “stray” – he essentially ran away from home, although it seems that his mother really didn’t miss him much because she was severely into drugs herself. Holly, as a young boy, took a bus that stopped where Maceo and Billy were playing baseball, got off, joined the game, and bonded with Maceo and Billy. Once Maceo found that that Holly had no home, Maceo took Holly home to meet his grandparents, and the grandparents took care of Holly as if Holly was Maceo’s brother. However, Holly showed up one day with a wad of cash, and the grandfather, figuring that Holly was into dealing already, essentially kicked him out. However, Maceo and Holly remained the best of friends. Billy was another of Maceo’s childhood friends, and played on the baseball team with Maceo. However, at the time that Billy was killed, Maceo and Billy were no longer friends, because Billy had stolen the love of Maceo’s life, right under Maceo’s nose. Also, it seemed that part of why they were no longer friends was because Billy was a big-time drug dealer, and it seemed that Maceo wanted to stay away from that for the most part. Holly seemed to be different, because Holly did not deal, per se, but was involved with the drug trade at the periphery. Along with being involved in the drug trade, Holly was a bit of a thug – he bullied a weak kid when they were both in junior high, beating him up on a regular basis. The kid died during one of Holly’s beatings. Holly claimed that the kid had a seizure and hit his head, and this is what the caused the death. However, it was strongly suspected that it was the other way around – that Holly caused the hit his head, and this caused the seizure that killed the kid. Either way, Holly comes off extremely bad in the incident. But the novel did not indicate that there were other incidents where Holly was a bully or violent, so it might be an isolated incident, but it tells the audience that Holly is a man who is not a good guy. The woman who was in the middle of Billy and Maceo was Felicia. Felicia, like Maceo, was a college student at Berkeley, and this is where Maceo and Felicia met. Felicia goes by the name “Flea.” From the moment Maceo saw Flea, he was gone. She was his dream girl – beautiful, intelligent, every boy on campus wanted to be with her, it seemed. But Flea really didn’t love Maceo the same way that he loved her. She went out with him, but did not seem smitten. And, one day, Maceo took her to Cutty’s, which is the barber shop in the neighborhood where guys go to hang out and talk about baseball and things like that. Unfortunately for Maceo, Billy was also there at the barber shop, met Flea, and Flea and Billy had the same love at first sight that Maceo had for Flea. And that was the end of that for Flea and Maceo, although Maceo never stopped loving her. At the heart of the novel is Billy’s murder, and this is the mystery that surrounds the characters. Flea also went missing, as she was with Billy at the time of the murder, and there was some indication that her life was in danger. Here we get into the minor characters and their roles in what is going on. We had Charlie, who was Billy’s step-brother, who was convinced that Flea was responsible for Billy’s murder; Regina, who was Flea’s roommate; Reggie and Crim, short for “Criminal,” who were Flea’s older thug brothers; Smokey, who was a rival drug dealer and, it turns, out, at least partially responsible for Billy’s murder, along with Flea’s brother, Reggie; Daddy Al, who is Maceo’s grandfather and guardian; Cissy and Rachel, who are Maceo’s aunts (Cissy, being a late in life baby, was only six months older than Maceo, however); Chantal, who is the mother of Maceo’s “little brother” Scotty (Maceo was part of the Big Brother program, and was matched up with young Scott as Maceo’s little brother); and Alixe, who was Chantal’s sister, and has an affair with Maceo; and a cast of minor characters that fade in and out throughout the book, as they help, or try to help, Maceo solve the mystery of Flea’s disappearance and Billy’s murder. The backdrop in this drama is the inner-city of Oakland, in a part of town that is probably the roughest part of the entire city. It is a place where kids, for the most part, grow up with a father, and, many times, without a mother. Where there are “strays” such as Holly, kids who have a mother on drugs who does not care for them, so the kids are left to care for themselves and end up on the street. There are homeless everywhere. Drug dealing is a way of life, and territory wars rifle the neighborhoods, resulting in many murders per year. It is a hopeless place, but some of the adults in the book attempt to straighten out the wayward men who populate the place. Daddy Al is one these men, as are various preachers. As stated before, the driving force in this book is the disappearance of Felicia, and Maceo’s desperate attempts to find her. Through it all, however, there is one major theme, and that is the fact that Maceo has his feet in two different worlds, and must choose between them. In one of his worlds, Maceo is respectable. He at least attended a top-tier college, although it is unclear whether he graduated, and, considering he does not seem to have a job during the novel, it seems that he probably did not. He was drug free, and did not deal drugs, nor was he involved with the drug industry in any way, except by association. His grandparents seem loving, stern and straight, and he still lived with them. This world was represented by Alixe, with whom Maceo had an affair, and Alixe was symbolic of this world and Maceo’s option to choose this world. Alixe, as stated before, was the sister of Chantal, and Alixe was an extremely straight girl who was newly arrived to Oakland. She had previously lived in Japan and Europe, therefore was not of the streets. There was talk in the book that she did not understand Maceo’s world of violence, drug dealing and mayhem. All of that was not in her world, not in her sphere of influence, and she could not understand Maceo’s world. Because Alixe was a girl who was not exposed to the drug trade, wanted nothing to do with it, wanted nothing to do with anybody who was involved in it, and seemed classy and educated, Alixe represented one option for Maceo, and was symbolic of that. This option, for Maceo, was that he could live a respectable life. After all, he was obviously intelligent if he got through several years of Berkeley, and he got through at least this, as he met Flea his sophomore year there. He had a pretty good head on his shoulders, as evidenced by the fact that he did not do or deal drugs. He had an excellent support system, in the form of his grandparents. And Alixe loved him. He therefore had the option to use his intelligence for good, finish school, and marry Alixe and live a life that is free from drugs, crime and mayhem. The other world is represented by Flea and Holly. Both Flea and Holly are from the same ‘hood as Maceo and have the same background as Maceo. Neither had parents- Flea’s mother was murdered by her father, and her father went missing after that. It is unclear what happened to Holly’s father, because he was not around, but his mother was alive and addicted to drugs. And both Flea and Holly were involved in the drug trade – Flea indirectly and Holly directly, although neither of them actually dealed. Flea was indirectly involved with the drug trade because she chose to be with a drug kingpin, Billy, and was in love with him. Because of this, her entire life was affected by the drug trade, as it must be to be in a relationship with somebody like Billy. Holly, as indicated before, was involved in the drug trade, although not as a dealer, but somebody who assisted dealers. And Holly and Flea were the two people for whom Maceo cared the most. However, they are representative of the other world in which Maceo found himself – the world of the drug trade, and all that the drug trade brings with it. Murder, prostitution, turf wars, mayhem, rogue police, drug deaths, etc. These are all parts of everyday life for Maceo and the others, and Holly and Flea represent another decision that Maceo could make, and that is to stay in that world and most likely die young or be imprisoned. Unfortunately for Maceo, this is the world that he chose. Flea really faced a similar choice at one point in the book. On the one hand, she met Maceo at Berkeley, therefore the two of them were really attempting to make something of themselves and leave their painful pasts behind them. Flea could have had Maceo, who was a respectable choice. Maceo would have married Flea in a heartbeat, he was that much in love with her. However, Flea made a choice to go with Billy the drug dealer instead. It was this decision that essentially put every event in the book into motion and conceivably changed the paths of everybody in the book. Who knows? If Flea would have stayed with Maceo and stayed in school, perhaps the two of them would have graduated from Berkeley, found decent jobs and would be able to leave the drug world behind. But this was not to be. In the end, Maceo did find Flea. What set his search into motion was that his aunt Cissy was secretly involved with Holly. Cissy also was put into danger by Maceo by going with Maceo to the scene of Billy’s murder, where Maceo found a homeless man to question about Billy’s murder. Maceo was supposed to take Cissy home from the police station after Holly was taken to the police station to be questioned about the murder of Jorge, who was a Mexican drug dealer visited by Holly and Maceo shortly before his murder. However, Maceo ended up taking Cissy to the scene of the crime. Unfortunately for them, Smokey and his minions followed them there. They beat up Maceo and Cissy, attempted to rape Cissy and blew up Maceo’s car with a Molotov Cocktail. Cissy ended up in the hospital in critical condition, and Daddy Al blamed Maceo. After all, Maceo chose to keep Holly as a best friend, even though Holly was actively involved in the drug trade. Maceo also chose to take Cissy to the scene of the crime. Therefore, if it were not for Maceo, Cissy would not be in danger, and Daddy Al blamed Maceo for Cissy’s condition and ordered Maceo to spend some time in Louisiana. However, Maceo decided to make a pit stop before going to Louisiana, and this pit stop was to Los Angeles. Flea’s aunt Venus was living in Los Angeles, and Maceo figured that maybe Aunt Venus would know where Flea was. After all, it came to light that Billy and Flea were telling people that they were visiting Aunt Venus in Los Angeles, when, in reality, they were going to Los Angeles to try to find a way into the drug trade there. Aunt Venus was there, lied to Maceo and said that she did not know where Flea was. However, through some digging, Maceo found out the address for Flea’s father, and Venus admitted that this is where Flea was. Therefore, Maceo went to Flea’s father’s house and found Flea there. This sets into the motion to denouement of the book. Maceo brings Flea back to Oakland, where Flea confronts her brother, Reggie. It turns out that Reggie killed Billy, and Flea knew this. The reason why Reggie killed Billy was for revenge. Billy had an opportunity to hook up with some Mexicans in Los Angeles, which would have opened up the Los Angeles drug market to Billy. However, the deal fell through. It turns out that Reggie had set up the deal with Billy and the Mexicans in Los Angeles, and Billy pushed Reggie aside. Reggie felt that he had disrespected him, so he killed him. This enraged Flea, so she killed Reggie. The resolution of the book is that Maceo attempted to start life over with Flea. He figured that Billy was now out of the way, and he could protect her from her other brother, Crim, and try to help through all that happened. But this was not to be – Flea left in the middle of the night, and left the ankle bracelet that Maceo had given her many years before. This showed to Maceo that Flea was completely done with Maceo, and he would never see her again. Maceo had left Alixe for Flea, as Alixe begged Maceo to choose her, Alixe, over Flea, but Maceo chose Flea in that moment. This was the moment that Maceo essentially chose the drug world over the respectable one. It turns out that his sacrifice was for naught, however, as Flea left him anyhow. Although it was unsaid, Maceo was basically alone at the end of the book. He no longer had Flea; he no longer had Alixe; and his Daddy Al had turned his back on him. Although Maceo still apparently had Holly, this was a small comfort, for Holly represented Maceo’s choice. This choice was to remain in the drug world, and, although this is not made clear, the assumption is that Maceo, having made his choice, probably followed the path to its logical conclusion and started dealing drugs himself. Source Used Tramble, N. (2001) The Dying Ground. New York: Random House. Read More