The Contender Book Essay

Sherena Medford Class: 701
The Contender Essay
If you’ve ever been confused on whom you are or who you want to be, then you’re not alone. Don’t back down, keep going forward. This essay will be about a young man named Alfred who has the same difficulty. Alfred says many things he could be, but can he choose ONE. In this book” The Contender”, the biggest conflict that Alfred has to overcome is the one with himself, namely the inability to find himself.
One obstacle Alfred has to overcome is finding himself because he wants to know before his time is up. For example, when Alfred realizes that he is scared of what Major might do to him, he plans his revenge. He thinks it will help to find himself. When Alfred goes to the gym, he meets Mr. Donatelli and says,” I want to be somebody.”(35) This shows that he is knows he wants to be something but isn’t really sure about it. Another example of Alfred mentioning that he wants to be somebody is when he is in the gym with Mr. Donatelli, and Mr. Donatelli asks him, who you want to be. Alfred says,” Somebody special. A champion.”(35) This shows that he is determined to find himself because he already has an idea in mind. These examples of who Alfred wants to be, helps him to know his future.
In addition, Alfred has another obstacle to face. He makes wrong decisions because he doesn’t know himself. For example, Major invites Alfred to a club to meet James. When Alfred gets there he decides to get drunk.” Someone began passing a cigarette around. And the way everyone dragged it along, he knew it was marijuana.”(118) This shows that he had no other choice but to take the marijuana, which he didn’t plan on doing. Another example, is when Alfred was drunk and was pressured into doing something that would get him even drunk.” Why not, Alfred thought… Major left the wine bottle with him.”(118) This shows that Alfred couldn’t control himself and didn’t care that he had training to become a boxer. These examples indicate...