machine yearning engineering

Joe is the perfect portrayal of neglect and poverty. He's not a delinquent with a golden heart, he's a young man that's illiterate and severely socially maladjusted byproduct. Every single institution has failed him, so does the juvenile detention center he finds himself in. On the surface this story arc serves as a catalyst to push Joe into the world of boxing after meeting his fated rival, Rikishi.

But I can't help but think the author is trying to prove to us the failed system within the carcelary industry. Joe was supposed to be given the tools to navigate through society and adulthood, yet instead he is thrown into an environment that's inherently hierarchical and violent. These young men learn to be afraid of other men, to be accepted into social groups they go through rites of approval with other inmates that involve humiliation and abuse. If anything Joe is learning that he's been right about everything all along, his trust issues, his abandonment fears, his detachment and his overall apathy are all justified given the world is the same as for within as for outside those gates.

It is of no surprise after he is released the only thing that stops him from commiting crimes as some of his ex inmates do is his new found life with his coach and Nishi. Yet the consequences of his lived experience still prevail and that's what i find both terribly tragic and amusing. Joe is virtually incapable of bonding with most boys his age because he still has a survivor's mindset. I can't stop thinking about his first test to get an official boxing license..He literally punches a boy out of the ring and even when he is begging for him to stop Joe follows him out and punches him till he faints. To joe boxing is not a sport or a discipline, it's a way of living, and any suggestion to abide by the rules is a direct attack to him and his ways.

The whole story setup till now is a perfect recipe for disaster. The coach is not an adult Joe can confide in and trust, he's a man that's willing to put up with him, but who'll never and has never loved him unconditionally and will raise his hand at him at any given point if he's given reasons to (which farther validates Joe's violence as retroactive behavior).