Rough Draft: The Flowers

     After reading the novel, The Flowers  by Dagaberto Gilbs, a reader could come to the conclusion that one of the novel's main theme's is racism and diversity concerning the community at The Flowers apartment complex. There seems to be a visible tension and dislike between Pink and Cloyd as they both have opposite views regarding the topic of people who are of African American ethnicity. Another thing to take notice to is how many of the people who live in the apartment complex come from diverse cultural backgrounds. In this essay I will be discussing my topic using Sociological Critiscism and Reader Response to depict the two main controlling themes of the novel.
     Throughout The Flowers there are important various reoccuring scenes during the novel that support and display one of the theme's of racism through the book. For example in one scene when Cloyd asks Sonny information about Pink by stating, " Did Pink sell a car to those colored again?"(pg.109). Then one of Cloyd's friends , Bud, enters the room and joins the conversation and say's, "What's to them Blacks anyway?"(pg.110). In this scene you can clearly see that Cloyd and Bud have some sort of a disliking towards black people because why would it matter who he sells the car to.
     Later on in the scene Cloyd goes on to say, "I didn't say I would."(pg.110). Refering to him not allowing people who are of African American descent to live in The Flowers apartment complex. Then Cloyd continues his statement by saying, "Fact I wouldn't. But that don't mean they aren't coming. They're all around us, multiply like mexicans."(pg.110). What Cloyd is saying is that he wouldn't allow black people to live in his apartment complex because they "multiply like mexicans".  This displays stereotyping people and discrimination on behalf of their ethnic background, which is ultimatly racism.
     Another important them in the novel is diversity. As Sonny is given the job duty to clean up at The Flowers apartments he begins to get to know the other characters throughout the novel. So the reader can also begin to see all the cultural differences between all the charactesrs as well. For example Cloyd and Sonny have different views of what defines a man. In one specific scene Cloyd is talking to Sonny about the elk he had and Sonny goes on to explain in his head that, "I didn't care so much that he killed them. It was how killing them meant how much better he thought he was than me. How it mean he was a man, and I couldn't be one if I didn't blow away a dumb deer with a shotgun."(pg.30). This is a firm example of how two people, Cloyd who is of a white background, and Sonny who is of mexican background, have different points of what defines a man. Now its not because the tone of their skin that makes this diverse its that they both come from two different cultural backgrounds and that may be what makes them different from one another.
     The theme of diversity carries out throughout the novel by Sonny observing the different characters. For example Bud was a big white guy who for some reason did not like black people, Nica was a sky mexican girl who could barly speak english. While Pink who lived in apartment number six was albino. As well as Sonny was of mexican descent. There are very many different cultural background differences between all the characters thus supporting the them of diversity in The Flowers.
     In many of the various scenes explain in this essay  from The Flowers a reader could come to the conclusion  that the two main themes of the novel are racism and diversity.