Family, Love, and Care Theme Analysis

At Henry Horner Homes (also known as the “ghetto” or the “projects”) in Chicago, family can never be fully separate from the exterior environment. While LaJoe Rivers hopes that she will succeed in keeping her children away from the drugs and gangs that plague their neighborhood, she realizes that she does not necessarily have the power to keep her family away from negative pressures. However, even though LaJoe feels disappointed in some of her children’s life choices, she continues to give them love, care, and support throughout their life. Instead of giving up on her family, LaJoe remains present for her children, accompanying them through various ordeals, from struggles with drug addiction to arrests and incarceration. Her behavior shows that true commitment to family means giving people unwavering love and loyalty in good times as well as bad, providing emotional support even in a deeply unstable, insecure environment.

LaJoe’s inability to fully protect her children from drugs and crime does not reflect a lack of motherly care. Instead, it is an illustration of the overwhelming power of the negative pressures at play in her children’s environment. At Henry Horner, so many families “lose” their children to neighborhood drug trafficking and gang rivalry that “a common expression among the mothers at Horner is: ‘He ain’t my child no more’” when children abandon their families to take part in criminal activities. Mothers’ desire for their children to grow up safely is insufficient in ensuring that their children will actually escape the web of illegal activity in the projects. Instead, families learn to accept that they cannot control everything that happens to their children, and that some will inevitably fall prey to illegal behavior.

LaJoe’s favorite son, Terence, begins selling drugs for a local drug dealer when he is only ten years old, which separates him from his mother and the rest of the family. This comes as a major disappointment to LaJoe, as she felt closest to Terence and failed at protecting him from the outside world. When Terence is sent to eight years in jail for alleged participation in a burglary, LaJoe is forced to accept that she can’t always keep her children on the right path. However, none of these events can be directly attributed to lack of love or care among members of the Rivers family. LaJoe’s relationship with Terence is one of “extraordinary closeness” and, on multiple occasions, both LaJoe and even her mostly-absent husband, Paul Rivers, attempt to convince Terence to abandon his illegal activities. Despite their efforts, Terence’s choices demonstrates that there are limits to parental care, and that a child’s destiny is not necessarily directly correlated to parental involvement. Rather, Terence’s illegal activities and eventual incarceration highlight the difficulty—and even the impossibility—of maintaining a stable family unit in a world filled with negative external pressures.

Instead of giving up on her children because she can’t effectively shield them from their dangerous environment, LaJoe keeps her family united through her tireless love and care. Her actions, as well as her impact on her children, shows that love should not be affected by external circumstances. Unlike mothers who disown their children when they join gangs or deal drugs, LaJoe stays by her children’s side even in their darkest moments. Such commitment is rare in the projects, and public defender Audrey Natcone is impressed by the mutual love and respect that animates the Rivers family. Most of Audrey’s clients are left alone at court, but LaJoe always makes a point to accompany her son on his court dates, showing that her motherly love endures even in difficult situations.

LaJoe’s love and unwavering support imbues the family with a feeling of unity and stability. This consequently inspires her own children to support one another in return, thus strengthening the family as a whole. Even when he is sent to prison, Terence writes long letters to his mother and his younger brothers Lafeyette and Pharoah to remind them how much he loves them. Even though Terence has spent a lot of time away from his family, he remains unshakeable in his commitment to being a loving son and brother—a behavior that his mother modeled for him by loving and supporting him regardless of the circumstances. In turn, Terence’s brothers continue to look up to him, refusing to use Terence’s separation from his family as an excuse to show him less affection.

Lafeyette also demonstrates a strong loyalty to his family that mirrors that of his mother. Even though he is one of the youngest children in the family, Lafeyette takes on a fatherly role toward his brother Pharoah and the young triplets as he tries to protect them from the neighborhood’s violence, just like his mother did for him. Although Lafeyette occasionally lashes out against Pharoah, both boys know that their greatest responsibility is to protect each other. “It wasn’t that Lafeyette and [the younger children] didn’t get along; it was that he worried about them, like a father worrying about his children.” Lafeyette’s love and efforts at protection illustrate how the Rivers family is able to maintain relative emotional stability in a chaotic, dangerous environment.

Despite the toxic, dangerous environment at Henry Horner, LaJoe succeeds in maintaining a degree of stability and unity in her family. She remains a pillar in her children’s lives throughout all of their ups and downs, ultimately inspiring them to treat one another with the same unflappable loyalty and love. The novel praises LaJoe for showing her children tireless love and care even when they seem undeserving. Even though she can’t fully insulate her children from their environment, LaJoe serves as an example for readers, encouraging them to remain similarly committed to their family even in difficult times.