Emako Blue

The threat of violence as a motif in the text contributes to the uneasy atmosphere in which the story takes place. It looms like an unspoken character in the background of almost every scene, reminding the reader and the characters of the fragility of life and their sense of safety. Some characters, like Emako and Eddie, are more aware of this looming threat, while others, like Monterey, are more insulated from worrying about this omnipresent danger.

Emako and Eddie each live with the threat of violence firsthand as their brothers are both incarcerated on gang activity charges. When Monterey makes an off-hand comment about a gang member in Emako’s neighborhood being attractive, Emako is quick to remind her the threat he poses: “I just don’t want you to get caught up with no gangbanger. You ain’t about that. That’s part of why I transferred away from Truman. To get away from all that. Too much trouble in the classrooms and everywhere else” (21). That same gang member later threatens Emako while in her line at Burger King, asking where Dante is although he knows that he is currently incarcerated. Emako rightfully takes this interaction as a threat. She understands that Dante’s release will bring the threat of violence even closer to home for her and her family.

Eddie, too, is acutely aware of the threat of violence to him and his family. After an encounter with gang members while waiting for the bus stop in which Eddie fears for his life, he runs home and cries out to his mother: “You should keep the doors locked, even in the daytime! Something could happen!” (71).

When Monterey asks Eddie and Emako what is wrong with Los Angeles, Eddie and Emako respond: “‘Not much if you live where you live [...] But you ain’t poor and you don’t havta worry about going outside your house after dark,’ Emako said. ‘Or getting nervous whenever a car slows down,’ Eddie added” (58). Their responses allude to the threat of violence that plagues their neighborhoods, as opposed to Monterey’s wealthier, more secure, neighborhood.

Emako’s murder in a drive-by shooting by the same gang member that has been appearing throughout the text brings to a head the threat of violence. For Monterey, it is a jarring realization that the threat of violence is very real. She shows this in her reaction to a car misfiring outside of Emako’s funeral: “a car outside the cemetery backfried [...] I began to shake” (106).

For Eddie, Emako’s death reaffirms the fears he has always had, and he wonders whether he will be the next victim. Eddie has always been aware of the threat violence poses to him and his family, and now after Emako’s murder, he is only more convinced of its severity and presence.