I’m reading the book “Tears of a Tiger” by Sharon D. Draper
, this book is about these 4 boys and they are best friends, 2 of them are in
the basketball team( Robbie and Andy) and the other two are just a part of the
group ( B.J and Tyrone . One night after a game the 4 friends decided to go out
and drink. The night takes a turn when they get into an accident because they
were drinking and driving. Robbie dies because of the accident. Robbie was a
kid with a lot of potential and one day hoped to be a basketball player, but didn't get to meet his potential because he ended up dying. This left Andy his closest
friend feeling guilty. Andy feels as if he should’ve been the one to die
instead of Robbie because he was such a bright kid, which so much going for
him. He also feels guilty because he was the one driving in the first place and didn't save Robbie, while he was burning in the car.
For example Andy says to his coach “I wanted to die right
after the accident. I wanted it to be me that dead instead of Rob. He had so
much goin’ for himself. He woulda got that scholarship too, coach. This shows
that Andy does recognize that his friend really had something going for him,
and Andy feels as if he’s to blame for Robbie’s death, because a kid that might
have made it to pro basketball died over Andy’s carelessness. Another example when
he’s also talking to the coach about his trial he says “I think I would have
felt better if I woulda had to suffer and complain a little” then the coach says
“You are suffering, Andy. The judge knows that. We all do”. I feel like Andy is
a little too hard on himself because it wasn't really his fault all things
happen for a reason whether its good or bad, they’re going to happen whether you like it or not, it’s just the way life
works. Like the coach also told Andy if Robbie was a live and Andy was dead,
Robbie would've felt just as guilty so nobody really ever wins at the end of
the day.
I think that under aged kids shouldn't be drinking in the
first place, because the consequences aren't going to be so fun, and you only
drink for one night, but the consequence might scar you forever. So it’s not
really worth it. Yeah it might be fun, but if you are drinking you shouldn't drive whether your 16 or 60. The risk of you getting into an accident is always
going to be the same. In the book the put a statistic and it says that every 18
minutes somewhere in the world someone gets into an accident because of drunk
driving, and if you think about it that A LOT of people, now maybe these statistics
have changed but who knows. In my opinion one night of fun isn't really worth
someone close to you dying. You should think about consequences before you take
part in an action such as this one.