Bronx - Character Development

In the book Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes, various characters changed almost completely throughout the book.  For example, Lupe In the beginning of the book she felt unloved and lonely because she felt like no one wanted her. She had a boyfriend that she never saw, so it made her feel like he didn't really want her either and the same with her family. She always talked about how having a baby was the only way to get someone to love her and make herself feel loved. But the truth was, while she was saying all of this and doing all of this, she was actually really pretty. Others in the story would say that all of the guys would drool over Lupe, but she would never notice or wouldn't care. She puts herself down sometimes and feels really negative, she is a dreamer of love. In the beginning she says, "...if I had a real baby, she would love me..." She keeps telling herself that in order for her to feel loved, then she would have to have a baby. But towards the end she says, "...So I don't have a boyfriend now...Neither does Janelle. Or Gloria. Or Leslie. But we have each other..." Towards the end you can see how Lupe is sort of changing and understanding that she is not alone and that she has people that love her truly, At the end of the book, she says, "Him and me had our first date over the weekend...it's great having somebody to study with...I should be able to get into a decent collage when I graduate. That's what I'm planning on..." She is finally noticing that other people do love her and that there is more to life than having a baby. She is now thinking about her relationship with Raul and what collage she wants to attend to. 

Another character that changed was Devon. In the beginning he was very shy about enjoying reading and would hide from everyone because people thought that since he was a jock that he shouldn't be into that kind of stuff. No one, but Janelle knew about his secret love for books because of a time when she caught him reading in the library. But towards the end of book, he begins to not care about people knowing about his secret love to read. He starts to read in front of people and actually say that he is going to the library to just read for fun. He even stood up to one of fellow jock friends named Max and told him that he likes to read and that he doesn't care what others think and he hopes that everyone knows. In the end, he says, "Mike slams his tray down beside me and sits...'What's that you reading?'...'Oh. Right. You got that class.'...At first I don't say anything. Then I decide. 'No man. It's not for class. I'm reading it for me, actually..." He speaks up and tells that he is reading for himself and that he enjoys it too no matter what anyone says, he loves reading. 

In the book, the setting plays a huge part in what many of the characters are like. For example, Tyrone is a huge character in the book and he is affected a lot by where he is from. He is very scared of dying/being killed because of where he lives and the people that live there. He is so concentrated of being afraid that he is going to die that he doesn't think that he is going to live long enough to do much with himself and his school priorities. The setting also affects the other characters too because some characters like Leslie and Raynard. Leslie feels like she doesn't fit in to where she is from, but Raynard feels like if he were to move from where he is from that he will lose sight of his dream because his neighborhood is what pushes him to achieve it. All in all, the setting of the story affects them all in a different way. For example, it can make one fearful, one feeling like they don't belong, and one want to stay because it was what mede him/her so strong and a dreamer.