Shoes are an important status symbol for the runners in the book, as the quality of one’s running shoes is typically tied to their social class. At the start of the book, Ghost wears high-top sneakers to track practice because they are the only footwear he owns. While there, he notices Lu wearing a pair of beautiful Nike running shoes and envies them. Not only can Lu run faster in the shoes, but they also show he is wealthier than Ghost. Ghost does not feel comfortable asking his mother for running shoes because he knows she will find the money, and he does not want to put that burden on her. As such, he decides to steal a pair of shoes from the local sporting goods store instead, so he can fit in with his teammates. Therefore, in Ghost’s case, his shoes do not only represent his class status. Rather, they showcase his desire to conform and possibly even stand out among his teammates.
Shoes Quotes in Ghost
I wonder if doctors ever cut off somebody’s arm or leg and afterward realize that they made a huge mistake. Like, totally blew it. Because that’s definitely how I felt about low-topping my high-tops, but not until I got to school the next day.
I was literally shaking with embarrassment, like my insides had turned into ice. Ice that was cracking.
I wanted to break the desk.
Or flip it over.
Scream. Something. Anything.
At first, I wasn’t going to do it. I mean, when I went into the store, it was a thought, but only a thought. Not even like a real, real thought either, because I knew that I could just ask my mother to get them for me, and she would because she felt like this track thing was gonna keep me out of trouble. But when I saw how much they cost . . . I just couldn’t ask her for them.
I just told him that my mother had gotten them for me as a way to encourage me to do the right thing and stay out of trouble. Just saying it turned my stomach, because here I was, a boy who was suspended for busting somebody in the face at school one day, and skipped half the day the next because I was laughed at. Then I swiped shoes!
My tongue had suddenly turned into a stone in my mouth. I couldn’t breathe, like I had just finished running ladders, like I was going to yak up every sunflower I had ever eaten, and if there was a sunflower growing in me, it was definitely dying right then.
Shoes Symbol Timeline in Ghost
