"Donatelli's thin lips tightened. 'Everybody wants to be a champion. That's not enough. You have to start by being a contender, the man coming up, the man who knows there's a good chance he'll never get to the top, the man who's willing to sweat and bleed to get up as high as his legs and his brain and his heart will take him...'(35)"
Robert Lipsyte shed a different light on the word determination through the experiences of his main character in The Contender. Determination to succeed. Determination to win. Determination to rise above your surroundings.
Alfred, an African American high school dropout who is seemingly a hopeless cause, is abandoned by the people he'd considered to be his friends. The darkness that fills his world with feelings of guilt and purposelessness is broken by his entry to Mr. Donatelli's gym, a facility used to extensively train boxing prospects. To Alfred's immediate dismay, Mr. Dontatelli does not bolster Alfred's pride with foolish notions of success, but rather challenges him to become a contender through hard work, blood, and sweat. Alfred takes the challenge seriously. He begins to walk with confidence simply because he can.
The journey The Contender takes the reader on is filled with hope. Even despite obstacles, Alfred prevails and ultimately learns exactly what it takes to be a contender. The ending is not cookie cutter and not expected. I love the compassion Alfred continued to show to his best friend, even though it was not necessarily warranted by the friend's irresponsible choices.
The language used by Lipsyte is kept simple and fitting for his characters. The plot is simple, leaving no underlying meaning to be found, at least none that I can determine. It is a straightforward read that is geared more towards the younger reader. However, by the end of the book any reader would undoubtedly feel more determined and more inspired to become a contender in life.
