A Brothers Murder

Anthony Tooke Turner English 80 September 2, 2012 “A Brother’s Murder” A Brother’s Murder” by Brent Staples is about two brothers that grew up together. Staples left his hometown for ten years to better himself. Staples later came to find out his brother was killed by his best friend over a girl. I understand why he made that decision because it was either he leave or end up dead. Brent Staples left his home to achieve success. In order for Staples to achieve success he felt like he needed to leave home.

Staples didn’t want his past to affect who he was trying to become. As he said in the essay “I added a psychological dimension to the physical distance that I had already achieved I rarely visited my hometown” (Staples 361). Staples thought that if he could add this dimension to his life then he would be able to help his brother out. I understand why he wanted to block out his past. Some of the people I’ve hung out with did things I disagreed with.

I had to lose connections with them to better myself. Staples wanted to leave his hometown to achieve success in his life. He wanted to better himself. I understand why Staples did what he did, it was either him staying at his hometown or he move to better himself to help his little brother. I can connect to this essay because I had to make sacrifices hanging out with the kids in the neighborhood to brighten my future. It is important to me because we seem to let our past affect our future.