Dene meets graffiti and the hostile consequences of making eye contact with people in Oakland after an experience on the bus. This same experience was "The first time Dene saw someone tag, he was on the bus. It was raining. It was a kid in the back..tag in the condensation" (pg 28). Dene meets graffiti in an Oakland public transportation system. This system connects him and other characters in the book together, as well as the city of Oakland itself. Meanwhile, the rain seems to be contradictory to the tagging and graffiti since it …show more content…
The parallels in setting on systems of public transportation such as the bus and the train contrast Dene's past and present character, which has been affected by how he was raised in Oakland. Dene first saw tagging when "he was on the bus... Dene saw that the kid looked back at him... you don't even glance.. Out of respect you acknowledge" (pg 28). Dene, in the present, respects the kid who was graffitiing. He resonates with the kid on the bus but doesn't stare and instead only acknowledges him out of fear. Meanwhile he starts the chapter off "at the Fruitvale Station...[and then] looks across the tracks at graffiti scrawled on the wall" (pg 27). This time, Dene acknowledges the graffiti and is face to face with the art. He is now in the situation of the kid that he saw and seemingly admired. Orange seemingly implies that Dene would be proud of his current character now, but also might fear his current character since Dene feared the