Roshath G Engelsk 9/9/2021 Twelve - Essay Summary The novel ”Twelve” by Nick McDonell is briefly about a group of teenagers who lives in Manhattan in New York. The novel takes place in December 1999. These teenagers all come from wealthy families, and we get to know one person better than the others, and that person is a 17-year-old boy called White Mike, who is the central figure in this book. White Mike is a local drug dealer in New York, who sadly has lost his mother to breast cancer several years before the story began. Molly, who is a great friend of his, doesn’t know that he sells drugs on a daily basis. In reality she thinks that he works at his father’s restaurant. White Mike isn’t like any other drug dealer. He is rather in a group of his own. A thing the teenagers all have in common is their substance abuse along with partying. A new substance comes in play for the teenagers, to be more specific a substance called twelve which the title also refers to. The substance twelve is described as a cocaine like substance which gives a euphoric rush. The analysis The novel ”Twelve” by Nick McDonell is about youngsters who are trying to live their life through drugs, alcohol and partying. This whole teenage life has changed throughout the years, but the teenage life described in twelve is still recognizable today in our modern society. The teenage life where the word “limits” doesn’t exist. In my analysis I am going to focus on White Mike and what has caused him to become a drug dealer. This dilemma has become more serious as time goes in our world. People start drug dealing in young ages has caused the establishment of different organizations today. In this analysis I will also be covering if White Mike stands as a drug dealer. In the start of the novel, we get introduced to White Mike. I will quote: (p. 3 l. 5-6) “White mike has never smoked a cigarette in his life. Never had a drink, never sucked down a doobie.” This quote tells us what kind of a person White Mike is. For instance, we will already have these prejudgments of how a junkie would be like, such as someone who hasn’t got their shit together. But this quote itself also makes him stand out of all the other teenagers in this story besides Molly who is clean as well. But as a drug dealer in general in our modern society, we could also find this abnormal, whilst a lot of drug dealers do do drugs, but at the same time there is this minority of drug dealers who doesn’t which White Mike is a part of. In this novel different little symbolic meanings appear. I will quote one of them: (p. 22 l. 3-4) “Oh why do I live this life Hey, must be the money” The context for this quote is that White Mike can hear some pop rap playing inside of a house where a party is taking place. But these two lines immediately make you think, why was this important to include in this novel? I think that Nick McDonell wants to think of White Mike when reading this. This also refers to the theme I chose, which is why is White Mike drug dealing in the first place? Is it because of the money or is there other reasons? I personally don’t think White mike is drug dealing because of the money. I think the reason being so is the loss of his mother. I think as a teenager, a lot of mental impact can change your behavior when you are a teenager and, in the end, your whole “personality”. If we look at drug dealers today, a lot of research has TWELVE - ESSAY ROSHATH GOPALAVADIVEL Roshath G Engelsk 9/9/2021 proven that one reason which is given to why so many people have become drug dealers there were one reason very common among them, which were a troublesome childhood. White Mike went from being an excellent student in school, to be selling drugs in the streets of Manhattan. what may have caused this dramatic change of path for White Mike? The loss of White Mike’s mother has had an impact on White Mike. When he moves with his father right after his mother died, Mick McDonell chose to write a little saying. I will quote: (p. 58 l. 6-8) “Maybe you know how it is and maybe you don’t, but sometimes if you can’t see what you’re finished with, it’s better.” In this quote I interpret this as White Mikes personality. He might know who he is or he might not, but he can’t see who he will end up being and maybe it is better. White Mike is on a dark path, and he still has a chance to change it. Teenagers today go through an identity-crisis, which I think White Mike is going through. The loss of his mother has caused him to forget who he is and metaphorically knocked him out of his balance. White Mike is in desperate search for who he is, who he wants to be, who he is going to be and who the world wants him to be. To sum up I think White Mike is drug dealing because he is in an identity crisis after the loss of his mother. Drug dealing is like his safe space. Money might me a reason as well, but I don’t think money as a reason is being displayed very clearly in this story. The small indications make me think, that he is just in an identity crisis, such as him not taking any drugs, smoking or drinking. I think that a dark path has been set for him after the death of his mother and is dragging him into an atrocious future. TWELVE - ESSAY ROSHATH GOPALAVADIVEL
