The Nickil Boys Essay

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Is harsh reform school effective? Does using degrading methods help treat young people with destructive behavior? Or do such methods leave them with mental health problems? The debate over the effectiveness of harsh reform methods continues to raise important questions about the treatment of young people with destructive behavior. In Colson Whitehead’s novel, The Nickel Boys, he portrays the harsh realities and injustices faced by the young boys at the Nickel Academy reform school. Through the story, he showed that harsh punishment could lead to psychological and physical trauma. As the plot unfolds, Whitehead ultimately demonstrates that such cruel and dehumanizing treatment was ineffective at reforming the students. In “The Nickel Boys”, …show more content…
Elwood’s confusion over “why did the bullies get less than the bullied?”, exposes how inverted the power dynamics are - the adult authority figures who are supposed to protect the boys instead become the aggressors giving out undeserved punishment. The dissonance between the White House’s stated purpose of delivering justice and reform versus the unjust reality of enabling the bullying of vulnerable children reveals the hypocrisy and inhumane conditions prevalent in these kinds of reform schools during the period depicted. Elwood's perspective captures how these places failed in their intended mission of rehabilitation. Harsh reform schools negatively affect someone’s mental behavior because these cruel and disciplinary environments lead to an increase in anxiety, fear, and a sense of powerlessness among students. This quote supports the idea that brutal beatings impact someone’s mental behavior. According to the article “Marianna Memories”, they received a call from Agnes Rush saying, “Now I know what happened to my brother. When he came back, he threw himself out in the middle of the street, screaming and yelling for a truck or car to hit
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Nickil Boys Essay

Nickel Boy Academy is a reformatory school that has recently gained some attention because of its terrible disciplinary tactics. Colson Whitehead’s book The Nickel Boys portrays the school’s relentless pursuit of racial injustice, revealing how it shapes the lives of its characters and leaves a terrible impact on their journey toward justice and redemption. While the story ultimately portrays the progress of Elwood’s struggles, it also forces the reader to recognize the cost & suffering there is…

Words 1020 - Pages 5