The Beast

The award-winning Walter Dean Meyers , born in West Virginia and raised in Harlem , writes persuasive novels for young adults trying to portray in his works the impact of the poverty upon human existence . He points out , on one hand , the hardships caused by violence , drugs , family difficulties and the despair around them that his characters must overcome in life and , on the other hand the fact that no one can escape this world unless one decides to fight it

The Beast ' tells the story of a black boy named Anthony who takes

advantage of the opportunity offered by a scholarship to a Connecticut prep school . This gives him the chance to leave his Harlem neighborhood Hoping to get into an Ivy League school , Anthony concentrates on his studies and doesn 't return home until his first break which is on Christmas . What he finds back home surprises and in the same time saddens him his best friend has dropped out of school , another friend has gotten pregnant , his girlfriend 's little brother has joined a gang but worst of all his girlfriend Gabi has become addicted to drugs . As Anthony tries to help Gabi break her addition he also struggles to find his own place in the world

His evolution as a character is enhanced throughout the novel by literary devices such as theme , conflict and characterization , all of them playing important parts in his growth

In terms of theme as a literary element we can only say that journeys are hard and there are always beasts to face along the way , this exact idea representing the novel 's theme . The term of beast is used metaphorically to suggest the idea of drugs and their devouring effect This is what Gabi has to confront with together with Anthony who tries to assist her in the process . This is a very hard battle Gabi is aware of 'drugs become part of you even after you leave them behind . They 're always there . We don 't leave anything behind (Scholastic .com

The drugs transformed Gabi from a young poet full of dreams of her own into a tormented person who can no longer escape them . This idea of weakness is suggested by a line adopted by Meyers from Theseus and the Minotaur ' The Beast , half human , half bull , roamed the endless corridors of the labyrinth , waiting for the youth upon which it would feed (Scholastic .com . Although fighting drugs is Gabi 's problem , it also changes Anthony determining him to grow up and be able to perceive the world around him which is no longer the one he used to know

The conflict of the novel is an internal one because Anthony no longer finds his place in Harlem ' What I had packed in my memory of Harlem had taken with me to Wallingford , had been the colors : vibrant Gauguin hues almost bursting from the squared city canvas , barely subdued by the earth tones of people gliding gracefully through the streets (Scholastic...