How is Bri’s identity represented within On the Come Up?
Identity is something everyone struggles with at least once in their life. It’s especially common amongst teenagers when it comes to figuring out who they really are and who they want or aspire to be. In the book On The Come Up, Angie Thomas shows that with a young female named Bri who is on her way to become a rapper. Bri’s identity is changed through the book where she goes from immature/dependent on others, however near the end of the book she is shown as a character who is more mature and independent. In the beginning of the book she brings up a lot of situations where she has never been in and tries to prove herself to be like ‘other rappers'. In the middle of the book we see how Bri struggles to actually figure out who she is and who she wants to become. At the end of the book we see Bri finally realize who she is, and free herself from anything or anyone trying to stop her from going forward.
In her song, On The Come Up, Bri brings up a lot of situations where she has never been in and tries to prove herself to be like ‘other rappers’.
This Glock, yeah, I cock it and aim it. That’s what you expect, bitch, ain’t it? The picture you painted, I frame it. I approach, you watch close, I’m a threat. (Thomas, On The Come Up, 111)
In this song, Bri sings lyrics that she doesn’t relate to at all and sings this song just for the sake of being like ‘other rappers’. She talks about guns and violence which she has not gone through in the extreme levels written in the song. In this quotation there is a metaphor used which is ‘The picture you painted, I frame it.’ It shows how someone made her go through something which she can never forget like how Long and Tate treated her differently because of her colour. It could also be how Long had her pinned to the ground and accused her of having a possession of drugs. The first person method is used, which can be used for the reader to know or feel exactly what the character is feeling in that moment, which is exactly what Thomas has done within this book. The lyrics she sings aren’t what she went through; we can feel how she felt when writing this song and expressing her emotions. All the pain and sorrow she went through with her mom not keeping a stable job, her aunt selling drugs, being accused of having drugs and being tackled to the ground. All these incidents took a toll on her and she believed the only way to overcome all of it in a healthy way is writing it down and turning it into a song and rap her heart out. Angie Thomas went through a lot as a kid including witnessing a shooting at a young age which led her to expressing her emotions through rapping then later on in writing. Of course what she writes isn't entirely true, but you can see the message she is trying to get across and can see how she really felt in that moment in her life which she wrote down on paper.
When Bri was talking to her mom she said she didn't know who she was which proves she hasn't found herself yet. "I'm…’ I can't find the words.” When writing her song On The Come Up, she believed she had found herself but when asked she went silent, not having an answer. In this situation where she said this, she wrote her song and after her mother found out about it, she asked her who she was and after really thinking about it she realized the song she wrote wasn't really who she is. The keyword used is the ellipsis. It proves how she didn't have an answer to the question "Who are you?" (Thomas, On The Come Up, 397). It shows how the idea of she thought who she was isn't really who she is and she doesn't know the answer deep down. Additionally, in a second quotation that was said, Bri's mom uses a simile when the phone rang and Bri was asked to answer it, "Answer or like you've got some sense then" (Thomas, On The Come Up, 398) which is more along the lines of fake it till you make it. Since even if Bri doesn’t know who she really is she can act like what she wants to be until she becomes it. In this scene Bri’s mom was not very fond of the song and lyrics; she didn’t approve. The language analysis that is used would be first person when she was speaking to her mom and not knowing who she is and making it first person ends up adding more emotion into the quotation and shows how Bri is feeling in the moment. Additionally a stream of consciousness is used afterwards showing that she realized what she is becoming just to fit in. Angie Thomas had a tough time trying to figure out who she was when she was younger, and just like Bri, she found out who she was in music and rapping when she was a teenager. This helped her decide what she wanted to become, which was to be an author and change other children's lives by thinking in a different perspective of life and finding themselves in her writing.
At the end of the book where Bri freestyled a different song and didn't sing the song supreme wanted her to sing which wasn't her and she didn't relate to at all. "I refuse to be their laugh, I refuse to be their pet ... I refuse to stand up and say words that aren't my own." (Thomas, On The Come Up, 440) In this quotation from her song, Bri finally realized who she is and who she wanted to be after supreme tried to force her to be someone who she isn't. The keyphrase used in this quotation is: 'I refuse to stand up and say words that aren’t my own.’ In this scene she realized what she was becoming and decided to change. She began to freestyle a song instead of singing a song supreme decided for her to sing since she did not relate to the lyrics at all and realized that it wasn’t even her to begin with. The method used was a metaphor when Bri said '1 refuse to be their pet' which she isn't really their pet. She is being treated like one and how she might even seem like a pet to supreme and James. During her rap battle, we can see a stream of consciousness where she realizes what she needs to do to be 'free' from supreme while being under his wing. She decided to stop listening to him and the first step was to stop singing the song he wanted her to sing. After singing the song, supreme decided to leave and said to her that they are done which freed Bri from supreme. Angie Thomas' lived in a rough neighborhood that was full of poverty and struggles. After she witnessed a neighborhood shooting, she fell into a deep depressive state. Her mother claimed that nothing helped her but books that she read. While in the depressive state she had no idea who she was and who she wanted to become. After overcoming the depressive state in her life she decided to start rapping which helped her decide what she wanted to be and who she wanted to become. Now she is a successful author with a New York Times best seller book. During all this success we can see how motivated she was, and how she freed herself from her past.
In this book we’ve seen Bri’s identity change throughout, where in the beginning of the book she brings up a lot of situations where she has never been in and tries to prove herself to be like ‘other rappers'. In the middle of the boom we see how Bri struggles to actually figure out who she is and who she wants to become. At the end of the book we see Bri finally realize who she is, and free herself from anything or anyone trying to stop her from going forward. Bri’s identity is changed through the book where she becomes immature/dependent on others, however near the end of the book she is shown as a character who is more mature and independent. Bri is a young teenager who is growing and changing. She can’t always make the right and mature decisions All the time and often struggles in a lot of situations.
Work Cited
Thomas, Angie, On The Come Up. HarperCollins Publishers, 2020
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