How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Well, that's your choice, Reese," he said. "You can spend the rest of your life in some kind of institution like this or you can be out there in the world. (2.4)
Reese's counselor, Mr. Cintron, tells Reese he has control over his own destiny. It's simply a matter of choosing the right path—over and over again.
Quote #2
Mr. Cintron talked about it like it was something easy. You go this way or you go that way. Maybe for him it was easy. (2.5)
Reese doesn't think the choice is as simple as Mr. Cintron makes it out to be. Who do you think is right? Why?
Quote #3
We had group 2:30 to 4:30, and they brought in a black guy who told us we could be something special if we tried. Same old, same old. He said he used to be a drug dealer. Play asked him what kind of watch he was wearing, and as soon as he had to look down at it, we knew he didn't have anything going on. (2.28)
The whole "choose a better life" thing is something Reese has heard before. But it doesn't resonate—he's never truly seen someone change course significantly.
Quote #4
I tried to sleep without thinking about Toon. What was happening was just happening. That's the way life was. (4.56)
On a day-to-day basis, Reese doesn't feel like he has much control over his life. He doesn't feel like he makes choices; things just happen. Thing is, not thinking about things is a choice.
Quote #5
When he left, I thought about what he had said. Maybe he went home and dealt with his family and his friends like he wanted, but I had to deal with what I found at Progress. (6.6)
Part of the reason why Reese doesn't feel like he has choices in life is because he's in a juvenile prison, which gives him little control.
Quote #6
"You're in here with boys who can steal, who can shoot each other, who can kill. That's the kind of life you chose, and that's the life you got." (6.33)
Mr. Cintron tries to get Reese to take responsibility for the bad choices that led to his imprisonment. There won't be a pity party on his watch—Reese is master of his own destiny.
Quote #7
The thing was that I didn't know if I was going to mess up again or not. I just didn't know. I didn't want to, but it looked like that's all I did. (6.47)
Reese worries that his own resolution to avoid violence won't be successful. He doesn't feel like he has agency in his own choices, and we also sense a bit of self-doubt in this passage.
Quote #8
If you had something going on, maybe some college or if your family had a lot of money, then maybe you could follow a good path. But if you didn't have nothing going on, then it was going to be hard just to squeeze yourself from one day into the next. (17.10)
Reese recognizes that life circumstances make it easier—or in his case, harder—to make the right choices. How much do you think life circumstances are a factor?
Quote #9
"You got to remember that this is the world you walked into when you opened the door back then." (32.43)
When cops try to pin Reese with a murder he didn't commit, he feels less in control than ever. But Mr. Cintron reminds him that his bad choices got him into this bad situation.
Quote #10
I know I have to invent something, look around and figure out some way to survive that's not going to get me killed or get me back in the jail system. (33.43)
Reese figures out that in order to make better choices, he has to improve his circumstances. He can't just go with the flow; he has to actively engage with his own existence.