Entry 1 for Always Running

In the novel Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez tells the life of young Luis and the hardships that he faced when he was growing up in Los Angeles. The novel is called always running because the author has nowhere to go, nor does he have a place where he feels like he fits in thus he is always running, running to a place where he can stay and be himself. In the beginning of the story, the author implies that he is having relationship trouble with his father, as he calls his mother, mama, while he calls his dad father, a more distant and cold name. We can relate this to the cover of the book where is shows gang-related images and quotes. Coming from the Television show Beyond Scared Straight one of the mothers notes that the gang is a replacement for her child's father and that kids join gangs because they fill a hole that was not filled by one's family. So once we relate that here we can see Luis participates in gang-related activities because he is missing his father and most importantly a family.