Rule of the Bone
Encyclopedia
Rule Of The Bone is a 1995 novel
by Russell Banks
. It is a bildungsroman
about the 14-year-old American narrator, Chappie, later dubbed Bone (named for a tattoo that he gets), who, after having dropped out of school, turns to the guidance of a Rastafarian Jamaican migrant worker
.
's The Catcher in the Rye
and Mark Twain
's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
. The book contains frank descriptions of drug use such as ganja and sexual abuse by his stepfather Ken, which coupled with the age of the narrator, has contributed to the book's controversy.
I-Man is one of Bone's best friends. He is a Rastafarian migrant worker living illegally in upstate New York, in an old bus that he's fixed up. He flies home to Jamaica with Bone, and is eventually killed by Jason.
Paul Dorset (a.k.a. Doc) is Bone's estranged father who left his mother when Bone was young, then moved to Jamaica. He has a sexual relationship with Evening Star, and stays with her in the Starport/Mothership.
Rose (a.k.a. Froggy) is a little girl who was sold by her mother to Buster Brown, a pedophile. She is from Milwaukee. Bone saves her from her captor and returns her to her mother. In the end, her mother tells Bone that she died shortly after returning to Milwaukee.
Russ is Bone's best friend. He is a 16-year-old school dropout and stoner. He worked at a Video Den before he was fired for stealing from the cash register.
Evening Star is an American woman in Jamaica who sleeps around quite often, with Doc, I-Man and Bone all together. She owns a house called the Starport, or as Bone calls it, the Mothership.
Black Bart is a mall cop who busts Bone for shoplifting.
Buster Brown is a pedophile who bought Froggy from her mother. He is also the manager for a rap group called "The Soul Assassins".
Ken is Mrs. Dorset's husband and Bone's stepfather. He is sexually abusive and an alcohol abuser.
Jason is a Jamaican man who killed many people in the Starport, including I-Man.
Wanda is Russ' manager from the Video Den.
Captain Ave is a ship captain who used to work with I-Man and Bone.
Bruce is the leader of an outlaw motorcycle gang, Adirondack Iron. Russ and Bone lived in their clubhouse for a while after Bone first ran away from home.
Interestingly, the bus where Bone stays and eventually meets I-Man is the same bus prominently involved in Bank's novel The Sweet Hereafter
, and the two 'Bong Brothers' are mentioned as being Nicole Burnell's brothers.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Russell Banks
Russell Banks
Russell Banks is an American writer of fiction and poetry.- Biography :Russell Banks was born in Newton, Massachusetts on March 28, 1940. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in upstate New York, and has been named a New York State Author. He is also...
. It is a bildungsroman
Bildungsroman
In literary criticism, bildungsroman or coming-of-age story is a literary genre which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood , and in which character change is thus extremely important...
about the 14-year-old American narrator, Chappie, later dubbed Bone (named for a tattoo that he gets), who, after having dropped out of school, turns to the guidance of a Rastafarian Jamaican migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
.
Structure
The novel is split into two halves, the first of which concerns his family struggles in America, and the second takes place in Jamaica. Some critics, such as Michiko Kakutani for the New York Times, describe the book as descending from other novels about rebellious teens, such as J. D. SalingerJ. D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as his reclusive nature. His last original published work was in 1965; he gave his last interview in 1980....
's The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 novel by J. D. Salinger. Originally published for adults, it has since become popular with adolescent readers for its themes of teenage confusion, angst, alienation, language, and rebellion. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major...
and Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by...
. The book contains frank descriptions of drug use such as ganja and sexual abuse by his stepfather Ken, which coupled with the age of the narrator, has contributed to the book's controversy.
Characters
Chapman Dorset (a.k.a. Chappie, Bone) is the protagonist of the book. He is a 14-year-old drug dealer living in upstate New York with his mother and his abusive stepfather. He runs away from home to live with his best friend and a biker gang. Bone, although a hardened drug dealer on the outside, is revealed to be quite compassionate, wanting to free an abused girl named Froggy from her captor and to return his mentor I-Man back to his home.I-Man is one of Bone's best friends. He is a Rastafarian migrant worker living illegally in upstate New York, in an old bus that he's fixed up. He flies home to Jamaica with Bone, and is eventually killed by Jason.
Paul Dorset (a.k.a. Doc) is Bone's estranged father who left his mother when Bone was young, then moved to Jamaica. He has a sexual relationship with Evening Star, and stays with her in the Starport/Mothership.
Rose (a.k.a. Froggy) is a little girl who was sold by her mother to Buster Brown, a pedophile. She is from Milwaukee. Bone saves her from her captor and returns her to her mother. In the end, her mother tells Bone that she died shortly after returning to Milwaukee.
Russ is Bone's best friend. He is a 16-year-old school dropout and stoner. He worked at a Video Den before he was fired for stealing from the cash register.
Evening Star is an American woman in Jamaica who sleeps around quite often, with Doc, I-Man and Bone all together. She owns a house called the Starport, or as Bone calls it, the Mothership.
Black Bart is a mall cop who busts Bone for shoplifting.
Buster Brown is a pedophile who bought Froggy from her mother. He is also the manager for a rap group called "The Soul Assassins".
Ken is Mrs. Dorset's husband and Bone's stepfather. He is sexually abusive and an alcohol abuser.
Jason is a Jamaican man who killed many people in the Starport, including I-Man.
Wanda is Russ' manager from the Video Den.
Captain Ave is a ship captain who used to work with I-Man and Bone.
Bruce is the leader of an outlaw motorcycle gang, Adirondack Iron. Russ and Bone lived in their clubhouse for a while after Bone first ran away from home.
Interestingly, the bus where Bone stays and eventually meets I-Man is the same bus prominently involved in Bank's novel The Sweet Hereafter
The Sweet Hereafter
The Sweet Hereafter is a 1991 novel by American author Russell Banks. It is set in a small town in the aftermath of a deadly school bus accident that has killed most of the town's children...
, and the two 'Bong Brothers' are mentioned as being Nicole Burnell's brothers.