Characters and Plot
The setting takes place in Harlem, New York. We first are introduced to the main character while he is at a funeral(2). The story is told from the point of view of the main character, so he is also the narrator. Shortly after we meet CJ. CJ is Jesse’s bro. We find out almost right away that CJ loves to play the piano(2). The next character that we meet is Rise(4). Rise and Jesse are blood brothers, when they were younger the became blood brothers when Rise saw that Jesse had cut himself so he went and cut himself and they put their blood together and become brothers(11). We meet Jesse’s parents and we see that his dad is a real jerk to him and treats Jesse like crap(8). We then come to meet the members of The Counts, the counts are the gang that Jesse, Rise, and CJ are in(15). The Counts aren't like other gangs in Harlem, they are more of a club then a gang(15). Later in the story we meet Tania. Tania becomes Jesse’s girl. Rise introduced the two and told them to go off and have fun(99). The protagonist in the story is Little Man. In the end of the book little Man comes up to rise and kills him(199-200).
Important Themes and Symbols
The main theme that we see throughout the book is to never let yourself fall to the evils of the world. This theme is shown countless ways throughout The Autobiography of my Dead brother. One of those ways is that Rise starts to come to let the evil in. We see Rise big change when Sydney comes around and wants to talk to Rise and Jesse. Rise tells Jesse to act cool and not to let anyone see them because it could ruin their appearance in the neighborhood. Jesse found this unusual especially since he thought that Sydney was a good guy and was also a cop. Rise shows things about himself that Jesse has never seen before and he doesn't like it(52-56).
A symbol that is used constantly throughout the book is Jesse's drawings. We see them used to show his view of how people look. Jesse likes to draw Rise in. His free time. He draws what he think Rise is like. The first drawing that he does of Rise that he actually notices a change between what he was in the past was when he went home after the meeting with Sydney and Mason(34). The next big change that we see in Jesse's drawings is he draws Rise on a throne as if he was a king(131).
A symbol that is used constantly throughout the book is Jesse's drawings. We see them used to show his view of how people look. Jesse likes to draw Rise in. His free time. He draws what he think Rise is like. The first drawing that he does of Rise that he actually notices a change between what he was in the past was when he went home after the meeting with Sydney and Mason(34). The next big change that we see in Jesse's drawings is he draws Rise on a throne as if he was a king(131).