Rumble Fish (novel)

Rumble Fish

File:Rumble Fish novel cover.jpg
Author	S. E. Hinton
Language	English
Genre	Young adult novel
Publication date	1975
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Preceded by	That Was Then, This Is Now
Followed by	Tex

Rumble Fish is a 1975 novel for young adults by S. E. Hinton, author of The Outsiders. It was adapted to film and directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1983.

Characters

Rusty-James- Rusty-James is the main protagonist of the book. Rusty-James is 14, and he has already started drinking, smoking, gang-fighting and playing pool for money. Although this was normal for most people. Rusty-James says that he and his older brother 'The Motorcycle Boy' look alike (nobody else does though), with the same "odd shade of dark red hair, like black-cherry pop." and eyes, "The colour of a Hershey bar." Rusty-James says that his memory's screwed up sometimes, that's why at the very start of the book he has trouble remembering who his old-best friend, Steve Hays, is.

The Motorcycle Boy- The Motorcycle Boy, whose real name is never mentioned in the book, is Rusty-James' older brother. He is said to have an obsession with Motorcycles and is away from home for long periods of time, his recent trip to California is where he finds their mother who left home when Rusty-James was only very young. Everyone likes him, Rusty-James says that people look at him, stop, and then look again. Towards the end of the book The Motorcycle Boy is in the pet store staring at some Siamese Fighting Fish, which he calls, "Rumble Fish" hence the name of the book.

Steve Hays- Steve Hays is Rusty-James' best friend. He's referred to as Steve in the book, only once at the start of the book is his last name mentioned. Rusty-James says that Steve is 14, like him, except he looks 12. Steve is a lot different than Rusty-James because he doesn't smoke, drink or fight.

Biff Wilcox- Biff is Rusty-James' rival, early on in the book Biff is introduced when Rusty is told that Biff wants to kill him. They have a knife-fight where Rusty almost wins except The Motorcycle Boy shows up before he can, when Rusty-James looks at The Motorcycle boy, Biff grabs the knife and slashes it across Rusty-James side, leave a long gash. Rusty-James is later expelled from school and placed in Biff's school.

Patty- Patty is Rusty-James' girlfriend until half-way through the book when Rusty-James, Steve and The Motorcycle Boy go out for the night and attend a party; where Rusty is seen fooling around with another girl. This later gets back to Patty and she dumps Rusty-James. Then later in the book Rusty is at Benny's when Patty walks in followed by Rustys friend, Smokey, and finds out they are a couple.

Smokey and BJ- Smokey and BJ are Rusty-James' friends. Towards the end of the book Smokey is dating Rusty's ex-girlfriend, Patty. They are not in the book too much but are referenced a bit.

Rusty-James' parents- Rustys father lives with the boys but goes out drinking all day so he is hardly ever home, when he is home though he practically ignores Rusty. Their mother lives in California, they find this out after The Motorcycle Boy returns from his trip to California. She left a long time ago when Rusty was only a small boy. She is frequently referenced throughout the novel.

Coach Ryan- Coach Ryan is the gym teacher at Rusty's school, he asks Rusty-James to beat up someone for $5, but Rusty-James refuses as he was in the fight with Biff and still has the cut from where Biff pulled the knife on him.

Cassandra- Cassandra believes she is The Motorcycle Boy's Girlfriend, even though they aren't going out. Cassandra is mentioned only a few times and runs into Rusty-James once. Other than that she is mentioned when one of the boys was telling Rusty-James that she was the substitute teacher in their school; on one of the days that Rusty was expelled and absent from school.

Themes

The novel includes a number of themes; among them are hero worship, alienation, gang life, and drug abuse.

Hero worship is explored through The Motorcycle Boy, the older brother of the protagonist. The Motorcycle Boy is well respected by most of the youth in the city and finds that it is "[a] bit of a burden to be Robin Hood, Jesse James, and the Pied Piper." Despite this adoration, the Motorcycle Boy feels alienated from society, separate and distanced from them. He believes it is this distance that leads the city's youth to revere him because, "Even the most primitive societies have innate respect for the insane." The Motorcycle Boy's physical barriers to the surrounding world, deafness and colorblindness, are the result of an accident and thus the result of the surrounding world.

The theme of alienation is also explored through the protagonist, Rusty-James. A tough teen, Rusty-James gets attached to people and fears being alone. It is revealed later in the novel that when he was a toddler, Rusty-James's mother took The Motorcycle Boy (who was six at the time) and left Rusty-James with the boys' father. The father then went on a three-day drunken binge, leaving Rusty-James alone. Rusty-James seems to often worry that The Motorcycle Boy will leave him. He believes he loves The Motorcycle Boy, Patty, Steve (partially), and his father (partially), though he is aware he cannot rely on any of them. In the end of the book, Rusty-James's father is proved worthless, The Motorcycle Boy is killed by a police officer, and Patty (his girlfriend) and Steve (his best friend), leave him. In the end, Rusty-James is left alone and alienated.

On the theme of gangs, while The Motorcycle Boy ended gang fights some time before the story takes place, Rusty-James is obsessed with them and wishes to bring them back. He was in the Little Leaguers, the peewee branch of the local gang, the Packers, when he was 11. Rusty-James tends to get upset when people disregard "The Rules," a systematic moral check point for teen fights, such as telling your opponent if knives are going to be involved beforehand, or that fights have to start without insults.

Teenagers are not the only characters with drug problems in the novel. The protagonist's father was once a lawyer but became an alcoholic after his wife left him. The Motorcycle Boy hates junkies, though this is never explained, and Rusty-James is also opposed to drug use. Weston McCauley, former second in command of the Packers, the local gang, is a heroin addict. Cassandra, originally a student teacher, who "thought she was The Motorcycle Boy's girlfriend," also does heroin, although she claims she is not addicted. The Motorcycle Boy doesn't drink on a regular basis but does when he wants to. Steve was originally opposed to alcohol, but does eventually get drunk after his mother had a stroke. Rusty-James is frequently drunk.

Awards and nominations

• ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 1975
• School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, 1975
• Land of the Enchantment Award, New Mexico Library Association, 1982

See also

• Continuity within S.E. Hinton Novels

External links

• Rumble Fish at IMDb