TAKEDOWN by Allison van Diepen - A Tale of Revenge and Redemption
Meet Darren, a dynamic protagonist seeking vengeance against a drug dealer. Follow his journey of loyalty and betrayal as he navigates the dangerous underworld of Toronto to achieve justice and redemption. Explore the consequences of obsession with a goal and discover the power of resilience and sacrifice in the face of adversity.
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Presentation Transcript
TAKEDOWN- Allison van Diepen
Driving inquiry question What can be the result of being blinded by a goal?
Characters Darren: he is the protagonist, he was in juvie for two years and now wants revenge against DT and his crew. He is a dynamic character. Jessica: she is Darren s classmate, she works at Chaos (a club where Darren hangs out at. She ends up being Darren s girlfriend and motivation. She is a round character. Diamond Tony: He is a huge drug dealer, he is the leader of his company. He never gets his hands dirty and let s his people take the blame. He is a static character. DT s crew : Vinny was one of Darrens rolemodels , Tyrell and Remy are cousins that deal with all the dirty work, Cam was Darrens partner and friend, Pup got arrested at the start of the book, Marcus a highend excecutive (always beside Tony), Ashtray got shot at the end with Tony. Everyone else got shot. Prescott: was the cop that Darren was talking to, that got shot.
Kessler: is Prescotts partner. Who ends up helping Darren takedown Tony. Kiki: Darren s little brother. Darren feels like Kiki is his son because there is no father figure in either of their lives. Darren s mom: is working very hard to keep her family going but often takes Darren s money and doesn't t care if her kids are into bad things. Her and her family live in the projects of Toronto Tasha: is Darren s sister who s around the same age, her and Darren do not have a good relationship, she knows all about Diamond Tony and Darren s role in the company. White Chris: is one of Darren s friends who has a significant impact on him. He was in juvie at the same time but he s cleaned up his act and is trying to get Darren to do the same by getting out of the game .
Plot Darren is a 17 year old boy living in Toronto who spent 2 years in juvie for being apart of the drug world, is mission is to takedown the people who s game got him in trouble Diamond Tony and his gang. He s a CI for a cop named Prescott who s hoping for a big promotion. Darren helps the cops arrest Pup a key person in Diamond Tony s operation. After this, there s competition the bloods and their leader Andre is out for blood. Darren soon falls for Jessica. He knows it s dangerous to bring Jessica into the environment and he shares his concerns with her but it doesn t bother her. When Prescott got shot by Diamond Tony he knows its time to get out of this game however, he is so determined to get revenge on Tony that he will do anything to do it. The bloods start killing off people in Tony s group which leads Darren to being an executive. Now, he s to invested. He can t get out. One night at Chaos Jessica was shot when standing with Darren, Tony and some other friends, she was able to make it after being in a medically induced coma for several days and this is the point where Darren knows exactly what he needs to do. Get out of the game and get his revenge. He works with Kessler (Prescott s old partner.) and he takes down Diamond Tony and his complete operation.
Theme Driving question: What can be the result of being blinded by a goal? Theme statement: Revenge isn t always as rewarding as one wishes it could be and is not always as easy as it seams. Connection between statement and question: When someone is so desperate to get revenge their judgement is often not as good as it would normally be and they start making quick decisions that aren t always the best for their situation which often leads to a negative result. Connection between book and statement: Darren wants revenge so badly that he isn t thinking clearly, he begins making choices that he knows aren t good or safe however; he continues to do them just because he believe that the only thing he wants to achieve in life is to takedown Tony.
Important qoutes "Taking revengeon the bloods Responsible for the drive by was one thing, but catching innocent people in the crossfire was another." (pg 235 Darren) "My fists tightened with satisfaction. For once, Tony had played right into my hands." (pg263 Darren) "When I turned back I found myself staring into the barrel on Tony's gun." (pg 273 Darren)
Point of view and setting The book is written in first person, it is Darren sharing his story. It is set in the projects of Toronto around the year 2005. The mood of the book is very exciting and thrilling, it s full of adventure and you re always wanting to read more.
Conflict Person vs Person: Darren vs Diamond Tony. Person vs Self: Darren vs himself doesn t know if he wants to keep going and takedown Tony or completely get out of the game. Person vs Environment/ society: Darren vs his area... Where he lives and his situation almost puts him straight into the game. It s normal for someone like him to be dealing drugs.
Any prior learning Before reading my group did research on drug trade in Canada and we found out that: In it s 2007 report, the UN found thatCanada led the industrialized world in marijuana use, at least whencalculated as a percentageof population. *In its 2009 report, Canada is cited as the leading supplier of ecstasy in NorthAmerica as well as a major producer and shipper of methamphetamine for markets around the world.
Personal connections Darren works very hard to get what he wants, nothing has ever came easy to him and if something ahs there s been consequences. He s had to figure out how to fight for himself. I can connect to this because in sports I ve always had to work very hard to get to the levels of all of my teammates and I ve never stopped working. Jessica has friends and family involve in the drug game whether they are using the product or selling it and she s seen all the consequences and knows the affect it could have on your life. She disagrees with it but it does not change her relationship with them. I can relate to this because I know some people who are involved with drugs and I don t agree with it at all however it doesn't make me end a relationship.
connections to other sources https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/02/oliver-burkeman-uncertainty/ -a website about goal induced blindness that strongly relates to Darren in his situation. This connects to another book I read, Street Pharm by Allison van Diepen which is the same author. It was a similar plot just from Ty s point of view (equivalent to Tony in this book). I think of the fentanyl crisis happening right now in British Columbia especially here in Vancouver. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/fentanyl-found- in-81-per-cent-of-overdose-deaths-in-bc-coroner/article36196973/ -this website has statistics and a more in depth definition of the problem.
Life-Long Lover of Literature I have never been a big fan of books. Last year when I read Street Pharm I realized that these kind of books interested me. The kind that are still big issues in our world today and I can relate to as a student in high school. I was very excited to see Takedown as one of our reading options because I really liked the way the last book I had read by Allison van Diepen was written and the topic. I plan on reading Snitch by the same author in the near future.
Sources http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/illegal-drugs-canada-s-growing- international-market-1.798638 https://images-na.ssl-images- amazon.com/images/I/51MZ7yrnUjL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg https://media.mnn.com/assets/images/2015/09/eyeglasses-in- nature.jpg.653x0_q80_crop-smart.jpg http://i.imgur.com/nDvRe6N.jpg http://wpmedia.o.canada.com/2014/08/505810666_24651062.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_C7sYvBvpzrI/RxQCEzPMYXI/AAAAAAAAAG k/iDSm_r9_8TM/s1600-h/NA+Smuggling+Routes.jpg http://images.gawker.com/18k1iz2wa5xl4jpg/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_8 0,w_800.jpg
