49 pages • 1 hour read
Philippe BourgoisIn Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1995A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
Philippe Bourgois
Philippe Bourgois is an ethnographer who moved his family to East Harlem so that he could study drug culture in El Barrio. He used his firsthand experiences to write In Search of Respect. In El Barrio, Bourgois, referred to as "Felipe," befriends drug dealers and slowly immerses himself into the underground economy of selling crack, to which he records what he sees and hears. He has a hard time throughout the narrative with remaining an observer for research purposes while wanting to intercede in the lives of his “friends and neighbors” (xiii) when they do things that seem unethical. Bourgois wants above all to paint the individuals he befriends as human beings with flaws, yet he doesn’t want readers to think that their actions are symbolic of Puerto Rican culture as a whole. He wanted to give back to the community, and writing this book was his way of doing so.
Ray
Ray is the owner of the Game Room crackhouse and the Social Club. He’s instrumental in Bourgois being accepted into the underground world. Bourgois’s research almost ends when he inadvertently "disses" (22) Ray by showing him a news clipping and asking Ray to read it, not knowing that the dealer is illiterate. Ray becomes upset and considers causing harm to Bourgois, although he eventually warms up to him again. For all his flaws, Ray is a great businessman. He balances violence and friendship with the need for a profit. He’s also respected on the streets because he has many kids from many different women, so he’s seen as an example of virile masculinity. Ray’s El Barrio businesses eventually shut down, and he moves with his wife and kids to the Bronx, where it’s speculated that he makes money from rental properties that he bought and renovated with his drug money.
Primo
Primo is one of the crack dealers and users, like Caesar, that Bourgois befriends. Primo often regales Bourgois with stories, yet some, like those regarding gangrape, present a challenge for Bourgois as an objective narrator. Primo has tried many times to secure a job in the legal economy but is always fired or let go. Primo often blames the job, but he also knows that he’s "lazy" (117) and that he doesn’t want to be dissed by anyone. Primo and Ray occasionally argue, yet they still remain somewhat cordial due to business relations. By the end of the narrative, Primo no longer sells drugs or uses them. He has also given up alcohol and is attempting to make a legal living as an independent contractor.
Caesar
Caesar is a crack dealer and user who often turns violent when he uses dugs. The others at the Game Room have to keep an eye on him. Caesar is subcontracted to work at the Game Room by Primo. He and Ray don’t have a great relationship, and Ray has tried to get him fired, but Caesar knows that Ray would have his back if he were jailed and needed bail. Caesar, too, has tried to secure a job in the legal economy, but is met with the same obstacles as Primo, like being fired and let go. By the end of the narrative, Caesar is still using and abusing, so much so that he’s been in and out of jail for domestic abuse and has strained his relationship with Primo.
Candy
Candy is the wife of Felix, the original owner of the Game Room. Candy is an outspoken woman who defies gender roles. When she caught Felix cheating, she chased him to a hotel where he broke his leg trying to escape from her. When Felix is sent to jail, Candy sells the Game Room to Ray. She later shoots Felix in the stomach, but when he says that he loves her, she forgives him, hides the gun, and calls an ambulance. Candy is a lifelong victim of abuse, yet she constantly tries to pick fights with Felix: "I loved'ed to get beat 'cause I was used to it" (220).Candy begins sleeping with men and flaunting her sexuality like a man, thereby upending gender roles and incurring the wrath of the men in her life. Candy sells crack to take care of her kids but also because she wants a sense of independence. At one point she wanted 12 kids, although she only had 5. Five of her pregnancies were terminated from being abused so much. By the narrative’s end, Candy has slipped a disc in her back and is bedridden. She’s addicted to painkillers and still remains married to Felix, who is now no longer abusive.
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