All Souls Analysis
All Souls by Michael Patrick MacDonald is about struggle and loss, but also loyalty and unity. South Boston has a code of silence to protect them, but it also hurts them. Southie experiences horrible losses; just about every family lost someone. The majority of the people living in South Boston thought that Whitey was a hero, but they did not see the truth. All Souls shows the reader that ignoring issues does not get rid of them, family is important, and there are no black and white truths.
Standing idle to an injustice is the same as allowing it to happen. No one in Southie wanted to go against Whitey’s code of silence, so they did not do or say anything. On page 91 of All Souls, Michael wrote about a Haitian man who was nearly beaten to …show more content…
Whitey Bulger was believed to be the hero of Southie for years, before they finally found out that he was an informant for the FBI. He, who had ordered for those who snitched to be killed, was a snitch himself. The people of South Boston believe that their silence will help them more than telling the police what happened. In some ways, this could be true, but there are multiple counterarguments that could be used as well. If they stay silent, they cannot get killed for being a snitch and the cops will (hopefully) leave them alone or not care, but the person who committed the crime will walk free, and the one who stayed silent will need to deal with the guilt of allowing that to happen. At the same time, if someone were to tell the cops the truth, they would get to feel good about helping put someone away, but the criminal may not even be prosecuted and the informant will be killed, or beaten at the least. The loyalty of staying quiet was important to Southie, but in the end it only hurt them. In order to overcome the vow of silence, all, or a great majority, of Southie would have to stick together to tell the truth to everyone. On page 263, Michael says “like me, everyone at that night’s vigil will forever be looking for the truth in Southie, where nothing’s what it seems”. All of those people formed a group to help themselves come to terms with the truth about what happened to their loved ones. Many of
Standing idle to an injustice is the same as allowing it to happen. No one in Southie wanted to go against Whitey’s code of silence, so they did not do or say anything. On page 91 of All Souls, Michael wrote about a Haitian man who was nearly beaten to …show more content…
Whitey Bulger was believed to be the hero of Southie for years, before they finally found out that he was an informant for the FBI. He, who had ordered for those who snitched to be killed, was a snitch himself. The people of South Boston believe that their silence will help them more than telling the police what happened. In some ways, this could be true, but there are multiple counterarguments that could be used as well. If they stay silent, they cannot get killed for being a snitch and the cops will (hopefully) leave them alone or not care, but the person who committed the crime will walk free, and the one who stayed silent will need to deal with the guilt of allowing that to happen. At the same time, if someone were to tell the cops the truth, they would get to feel good about helping put someone away, but the criminal may not even be prosecuted and the informant will be killed, or beaten at the least. The loyalty of staying quiet was important to Southie, but in the end it only hurt them. In order to overcome the vow of silence, all, or a great majority, of Southie would have to stick together to tell the truth to everyone. On page 263, Michael says “like me, everyone at that night’s vigil will forever be looking for the truth in Southie, where nothing’s what it seems”. All of those people formed a group to help themselves come to terms with the truth about what happened to their loved ones. Many of