Jumped Respect and Reputation Quotes

In the beginning of the novel, as Dominique tries to talk to her teacher about her grade, she's shut down by the female cop at the school doors. Think about how Dominique approaches the teacher, like a bird of prey sighting a mouse. And how she reacts to the cop: "slink away." They're different tacks, but Dominique definitely doesn't seem to be a fan of authority.

When Coach orders Dominique out, we see who has power. Dominique, who is used to having power over her friends, over the ball, and over the court, is powerless against Coach's rules. Her respect and reputation as a basketball player are on the line in her eyes, and so she feels that she has to do something to regain that power, whether it's on the court or off.

Trina skips too close to Dominique in the hallway. Already, Dominique feels disrespected from her visit to Coach, and the brief interaction with Trina offers Dominique a way to regain her respect. Here's a more accessible target than Coach, who is an adult and a teacher. Trina is just another student, and Dominique has her way back to reputation.

Dominique has repeatedly said that Trina thinks of her as invisible. Why is it so important to Dominique that she be seen by people? What does being visible to others have to do with respect, reputation, and, dare we say it, power?

Dominique's rules (not her class rules) help us define her definition of respect: Leave Dominique and her stuff alone, and she'll leave you alone. Aggression is a mean of enforcing rules and a semblance of respect for Dominique.

Dominique decides that if she doesn't like something another person says or does, she's going to respond. She calls her response "correcting," like she's in the right, instead of a "temper." There's a moral flavor to her speech here to justify her means.

Only her friends Shayne and Viv saw the interaction between Trina and Dominique, and Dominique feels that she has to respond because otherwise she will lose face with them. We have to wonder if Dominique is being honest with herself, though, when she says that she doesn't want to respond. There's an eagerness that she finds in physicality that implies otherwise.

When Leticia considers whether or not to tell Trina, she realizes that the situation could turn into a she-said, she-said drama. But is telling Trina the only option Leticia has at her disposal? And is Leticia right that fights start because people don't mind their own business? Clearly, Leticia isn't willing to sacrifice her own reputation to be branded as a snitch.

Trina is recalling when two athletic girls ran a couple freshman boys off a handball court. To save their own reputations, the boys call the girls dykes. Clearly, there's a connection between saving face, insults, and reputation. In hopes that they can scrap together their reputations, the boys laughed off the girls' actions. Now, why Dominique didn't do that, we don't know.

Dominique never regrets her decision to attack Trina over the perceived insult. Consider whether Dominique would lose her reputation if she did regret putting Trina in the hospital. When a situation has escalated this far, what are respect and reputation worth to Dominique?