Introduction
As a young man, Boyle has a memorable encounter with his good friend and spiritual director, Bill Cain; God inspired Boyle to help others including his students because he truly believed in God and his morality. He also worked as a priest to guide his followers to become better human beings; every chapter in the “Tattoos on the heart” reveal a lesson to readers. He provides serious problems and their solution with the love of God. He worked with the gang members and treated them with affection and love that their parents never gave them. He treated all his employees with respect even if some of them were rude or threatening. The gang members including scrappy had a passion for the gun, Boyle proved to him that gun is not the solution to his problems. He showed him to use the gun for a moral cause.
When scrappy pulls a gun on Boyle, he does not take it personally by understanding that it is not his fault; he knew he had to give him a chance to make a fresh start. Boyle discussed the problem that everybody has an obligation in life to spread Christianity. The human race has a lot of good potentials, they need to realize it and utilize it in the right way. Boyle deal wi the social problems humanely by following the principles of Christianity.
Dealing with the crisis means that the author was a holy human being who was working with some evil human beings who had no belief in God and his mercy. Life on earth was like dealing with a crisis because aspects of Christianity were missing from lives. He encounters people with a mission to hate each other, and they don’t believe that they deserve love. The disease of self-hatred in Los Angeles threatens the peace is making many of his students guilty and sinful. Boyle argues that many of the problems in the society are caused by the self-hatred. People don’t think that they are worth loving or protecting by the mighty hands of God. The fighting, violence, gun thing, and gangs highlight emotional instability all around which is a complicated social problem.
The American Dream
The author suggests that that American dream is broken right now because of the inequality and hatred in society. The idea that every American has an equal opportunity to move up in life is false. Over the past few years, the average salaries of young people have declined due to which they feel inferior and turn to guns and gangs for finding a way out of their misery. The gap between poor and wealthy is increasing, and free markets are producing more inequality. The growth of inequality and injustice is at rising when so many students cannot afford university or buy a home or car. To pursue their American dream, they depend on loans or robbery. After years of crisis, they lose their faith in religion; high debts also give rise to the inequality.
In response to the crisis surrounding homeboys and homegirls, the author Boyle provides a comprehensive solution to help them come out of the state of confusion and hatred and live their lives peacefully. The attachment of younger generations with their families and teachers has created a generation gap which has risen the inequality. They get attracted to negative politics and get stuck in the wild ways to deal with their issues. Political polarization has increased the inequality around the globe; to boost stability in homegirls and boys, Boyle argues that God’s mercy and love is the only way out of all problems.
Boyle discusses the example of Jesus Christ in his chapters which was a man of passion and dignity. If people embody their lives upon his teachings, he can become a perfect role model for the people. Death of many children in the church puts more emphasis on forgiveness which erases hatred. There are young teenagers who are victimizing others and others become victims of hate; it is time to realize their imperfections and forgive each other for their mistakes. The desire to lead a good and happy life is in every gangster, Boyle wants them all to have a good life by giving them a good moral character and a code of ethics to find meaning in their lives.
Boyle refused to treat his gang members with rash attitude, and he promoted self-confidence in them. He knew that they were ex-convicts but punishment is only going to make them a worse person. Therefore Boyle treated them with love by showing them the life of Jesus so that they do not feel inferior to anybody again. His tactic helped many students to leave the bad habits and become responsible people.
There is an incredible lesson in the Boyle’s teachings which can help the broken American dream to come alive again. Boyle says that people should wholeheartedly commit themselves to the Christianity and the son of God Jesus to deal with the crisis in their lives. His teachings are associated with faith, love, mercy of God and forgiveness to deal with the universal crisis. The society casts out the convicts, and they never find a way back to good life, Boyle suggests that they do not deserve harsh treatment. They also deserve the mercy and love of God which drives the hate out of their minds and make them a better person. The teachings of Boyle provide emotional support to all the lost American students and gang members who can practically implement these solutions to transform their lives.
Boyle set an example of bringing the gangsters to the university so that they could feel no more shame and do not feel the way they felt before. He emphasizes them to love one another and support each other. “Kindness is the only strength there is.” This quote summarizes the entire message of George; he argues there is no way out of problems unless kindness becomes a virtue. I chose this quote because Boyle lays a greater emphasis on the use of forgiveness in his teachings.
“If there is a fundamental challenge within these stories, it is simply to change our lurking suspicion that some lives matter less than other lives.” This quote shows that there is an issue of inequality that is plaguing the world; Boyle wants to highlight inequality tears the American dream.
References
Boyle, George. Tattoos On The Heart. Print.
“How The American Dream Turned Into Greed And Inequality.” World Economic Forum. N.p., 2018. Web. 17 Apr. 2018.
“Tattoos On The Heart Summary And Study Guide | Super summary.” SuperSummary. N.p., 2018. Web. 17 Apr. 2018.
