All Souls: A Family Story from Southie, is a memoir that was written by Michael Patrick MacDonald, that details all his childhood, and growing up as well as the events that afflicted his family and him while they lived in the Old Colony House Project in Southie. His is a story of resilience and determination because in the end he survived despite losing his siblings and many children in their community through crime, gang violence as well as drugs. The people living in this poor neighborhood are predominantly Irish- Catholic and most of them are headed by single mothers as seen through MacDonald’s family. They are living in very bad conditions, and their houses are rat and cockroach infested, something that could not have been expected because it had a large concentration of whites living there. The traditional family unit is at risk in Southie and despite all, but then there is an air of resilience in not only the author but also his mother because, in the end, they seem to have lived through and gotten over the socioeconomic challenges they faced in life.
The family faced a lot of challenges and losing his siblings was perhaps the most difficult. Davey committed suicide; Frankie was shot dead, Kevin, on the other hand, was found having hanged himself outside his prison cell. His sister Kathy, on the other hand, suffered an irreparable brain damage after being pushed over a roof in a fight. The reader learns of the death of his infant brother who died as well as Stevie, who was serving time in prison for wrongfully being framed for committing murder. While looking at his siblings, all of them faced challenging situations related to the crimes taking place in their neighborhood, and most of them died from their involvement in the very crime. But then, he is not projected as a partaker of the crimes. He can survive the loss and psychological torture that he may have experienced through these events.
Unfortunately for the people of Southie, none of them seemed to realize the delicate balance they were walking; they saw the law as the enemy because lawlessness had become their lifestyle. In fact, all their problems were thought to be coming from others who they had branded their enemies; and more so law enforcement. Macdonald lived in this environment, and one could have expected that he turned out like the rest of the children in the neighborhood. MacDonald was no exception and had harbored his negative feelings especially towards law enforcement. At some point, he fantasized killing the cops who he thought would catch him and beat him up on the beach. He says, “they were the enemy, the giant oppressor like Goliath. And all the people of South Boston were like David” (MacDonald 86). For such a child who harbors hatred and is on the brink of committing a crime to turn around and become a respectable member of society, in the end, is encouraging. Together with others, he knew that they could not win in this situation, but he did not engage in activities that could ruin his life. The rest of the children might have messed their lives in the process, but he did not out of his resilience and desire to stay out of trouble.
MacDonald’s mother is also another character who showed resilience through it all. She found herself in an abusive marriage just like many other women in Southie. Her husband abused her, “he was an alcoholic and further along in their marriage he would disappear on his wife and kids” (MacDonald 17). He beat her up, broke her ribs and even crushed her skull. She had to gather herself together and walk out of an abusive marriage, taking care of her children by herself despite the challenges she faced. She signed up for welfare and was determined to raise the children even when she knew it was one a difficult thing to do at the time and in Southie. Her trips to work were not any better because she had to take precautions on her way to work by taking stairs so as not to subject oneself to any more dangers in the elevator (MacDonald, 23). The determination to provide the basics for her children made her wake up each day to tend to their needs. She is a perfect example of resilience because, in the end, Patrick turned out so good and successful.
MacDonald experienced hate and racism first hand. That experience made it very difficult for him and other children born in Southie get along. It is even worse for teenagers who are thought to be easily corrupted due to peer pressure. Even with the influence of Whitey on all the other residents, MacDonald does not fall prey. The minds of many, both young and old got corrupted but not his. Everyone else had thought Whitey was protecting them from the ills that had dominated white neighborhoods, but the reality is that he instigated them. Whitey turned almost all the children in Southie into drug addict as seen through Kathy but not MacDonald. In the end, he was able to withstand the temptations, watched from a distance and as Angel Dust was taking everybody around him he stood tall as a clean nonuser. It paid off in the end because he did not die a premature death like many of the children he knew. He was there to light candles in their memory as seen in the episode where he attended P. J. vigil together with several other mourners who had gone there to pay tribute to their dead children (MacDonals 9). Such are the scenes that depict him as a lucky one because he made through all the ills that led to the premature deaths of many of his peers.
When looking at the context, time, and neighborhood where Michael was born and raised one could have expected that he sunk into a life of crime, alcohol abuse, corruption and even domestic or community violence. It beats logic how he was able to become a law abiding normal citizen. He hated that life while everyone else seemed to enjoy and live it. Many people in Southie, including his siblings and friends, were engaging in criminal activities but then he hated it. He says he hated going back to his apartment down in the south. It is amazing at how hard it was for hi surrounding and neighborhood to sway him into the life of crime. More importantly, it is amazing at how much negative influence did not have an impact on his character even after lying in and with it. He respected the decisions the people in his life made but was not all too ready to be part of the decisions and become involved in crime.
Work Cited
MacDonald, Michael Patrick. All Souls: A Family Story from Southie. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999. Print
