57 pages • 1 hour read
The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League
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Part 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3: “Class of Oh-Deuce”
Part 3, Chapter 6 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, mental illness, and substance use.
Arriving at his Yale accommodation, Jeff Hobbs found Rob and Jackie in the common room, quietly studying their surroundings and the largely white, wealthy students outside. Their other roommates were Danny Murray and Ty Cantey. Danny was white and, like Hobbs, the son of a doctor. Ty was “black-asian [sic]” and the son of a NASA engineer. Hobbs and Ty agreed to share a room as they both were track athletes.
Rob put up two pictures in his room: one of Jackie, and one of the Burger Boyz. He stood out from the other freshmen. Standing apart from the group and smoking in his baggy jeans and skullcap, Hobbs thought that he looked more like janitorial staff. Hobbs made an effort to bond with Rob. Although the students at his private schools were predominantly white, he had befriended Black athletes at Junior Olympic events. Rob gave no indication of how different their backgrounds were. However, when Hobbs asked what his father did, Rob stated he was in jail.
Hobbs’s older brother had warned him that the Black students at Yale did not integrate; he said they stuck together and showed “reverse racism.” In the dining hall, Rob sat alone near Jacinta Johnson, an African American dining hall worker, and he chatted with her while studying. When Hobbs joined Rob, he was unsure if his presence was welcome.
Rob began dating Zina, a Jamaican senior who became a constant presence in their common room. Zina bought Rob a leather jacket, which he wore all the time. Although friendly with Ty, Rob criticized him for cultivating a misleadingly tough image, calling this habit “fronting.” Rob and Zina often complained about the other students’ lack of authenticity. At night, Hobbs often overheard Rob talking to Jackie on the phone, always ending their conversations with “you’re my heart” (142).
Rob saw Flowy on the first of many weekends when he returned to Newark. Flowy had a job as a lifeguard and supplemented his income by selling marijuana. The other Burger Boyz were still at college. Noticing Rob’s leather jacket, Flowy wondered if Rob had forgotten that expensive clothes drew unwelcome attention in the neighborhood. Rob stayed with Jackie, who cried every night during his first two months at Yale. Before returning to Yale, he also visited Friar Leahy and his father in jail.
Rob continued to smoke marijuana at Yale, frequenting the Weed Shack, the off-campus home of Sherman Feerick, a junior and small-time drug dealer. Flowy had suggested to Rob that Yale could be a lucrative and risk-free environment to sell marijuana. When Rob explained that Charles Cawley’s money did not cover all of his expenses, Sherman sent some of his clients to Rob.
Part 3, Chapter 7 Summary
Rob was heartbroken after breaking up with Zina. That summer, Skeet’s appeal was finally overturned. In his second year at Yale, Rob worked in the college dining hall. One day, a group of white students left their table a mess. When Rob politely asked them to move their trays so he could clean the table, they said they didn’t have time and walked away. Furious, Rob punched his fist through the kitchen wall. Telling Hobbs about the incident later, Rob said he wanted to find the students and take revenge.
Rob majored in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, excelling in the subject. He got a part-time job at Yale Medical School as a lab assistant, and this progressed to him conducting his own experiments. At the same time, Rob continued to use marijuana and became indiscreet about his drug dealing. A “stoner circle” could regularly be found in his room. Rob developed close friendships with certain members of this group, like Raquel Diaz, who was a Puerto Rican student from a financially struggling, single-parent household, and Oswaldo Gutierrez, who grew up in a chaotic household in Newark. Oswaldo’s uncle, who worked for a Colombian drug cartel, paid his college tuition. Hobbs’s friendship with Rob also grew and they often attended the African American House dances together. Rob affectionately called Hobbs “Da Jeffrey.” During his sophomore year, Rob saved Hobbs from a beating when he was working as a security guard at a college event. He also consoled Hobbs after his first heartbreak.
Rob gave up his job at the dining hall as his earnings from selling marijuana increased. His friend Oswaldo also began dealing after his uncle was jailed. After Oswaldo warned Rob that he should be more discreet, he, Hobbs, and Ty moved to an off-campus apartment.
Victor, Tavarus, and Flowy visited Rob at Yale and were proud of Rob’s achievements. While Victor was still in college, Tavarus had dropped out. Hobbs envied the bond the old friends clearly shared. During these weekends, Rob was at his happiest. He also enjoyed a summer trip to Costa Rica, poetically describing the scenery and the sense of peace he experienced there. The trip ignited a lifelong love of travel. After graduation, Rob planned to go to Rio de Janeiro. However, his graduation was jeopardized when the college master confronted Rob about his drug dealing.
Part 3, Chapter 8 Summary
At a disciplinary meeting, Rob promised to stop dealing drugs, and no further action was taken. Afterward, Rob declared that the university would never expel him as it would appear racist. Oswaldo was furious with Rob, stating that he was tired of seeing his friend repeat the same “dumb” behavior. Shortly afterward, Oswaldo experienced a psychotic break due to financial pressures and his family situation. Rob visited him in the psychiatric unit almost every day until Oswaldo was well enough to return to Yale. Raquel also took a break from her studies as her mother could no longer afford the tuition.
Rob became captain of the water polo team. He also accepted an invitation to join the Elihu secret society at Yale. Oswaldo warned Rob not to “get all messed up” at the society’s retreat at the New York Governor’s Mansion (181), arguing it would reinforce racial stereotypes. Rob ended the evening unconscious on a pool table.
In his senior year, while fellow students focused on their next career steps, Rob talked only of traveling to Rio. Having made over $100,000 selling marijuana, he intended to take his time deciding on a career plan.
During reading week, Hobbs visited Rob in Newark for the first time. He was struck by the area’s poverty and Rob’s ease in the environment. Attending a cookout with Rob at his Aunt Debbie’s house, Hobbs noticed the warmth between the congregated guests and relatives.
Following the graduation ceremony, Jackie looked uncomfortable when Rob took her to a cocktail party. Afterward, while most families dined at expensive restaurants, Rob and Jackie went to Jacinta’s apartment, where the two women “talked like old girlfriends” (199). Accepting his diploma to thunderous applause from friends and family, Rob dedicated it to his mother.
Part 3 Analysis
The memoir switches to the author’s perspective as Hobbs contributes his first-hand experiences with Rob. The author is frank and self-deprecating, describing his initial clumsy attempts to bond with Rob and demonstrate his lack of racism. He also conveys how his interactions with Rob changed him, awakening his class and race consciousness. Hobbs begins to see the white elitism that dominates Yale through Rob’s eyes. He realizes that privileged students like himself view their time there as an enjoyable step on their inevitable path to success. Meanwhile, disadvantaged students like Rob, Oswaldo, and Raquel experience financial pressure and anxiety at college.
While Hobbs’s brother warned him about the “reverse racism” of Black students, Hobbs begins to comprehend that underprivileged students and students of color stick together as they have little in common with most of their classmates. The author acknowledges that he often cannot truly grasp how Rob feels. For example, when Rob is furious after his encounter with an entitled group of white students in the cafeteria, Hobbs feels guilty “for lacking the empathy required to connect a careless prep school slight to a fundamental flaw in the social construct in which we lived” (152). However, Hobbs begins to understand the enormity of the gap between his own experience of Yale and Rob’s. The friendship they build, despite these differences, is demonstrated in Rob’s affectionate nickname for Hobbs: “Da Jeffrey.”
Rob’s years at Yale highlight the theme of Education as a Pathway to Opportunity and Isolation. The Ivy League college is the ideal place for Rob’s academic brilliance and intellectual curiosity, and he consequently excels at his studies. However, the contrast between the rarefied world of Yale and Newark is even greater than the differences Rob navigated while attending St. Benedict’s. Hobbs’s initial encounter with Rob and Jackie conveys their discomfort in their surroundings. Furthermore, Rob makes no attempt to bridge the gap, as he did in his earlier years by “Newark-proofing” himself. Instead, he remains stubbornly himself and slightly aloof from the rest of the student body. Hobbs says that Rob eventually becomes “something of a beloved presence on the Yale campus” as his attributes shine through his detached persona (159). Ironically, while never feeling at home at Yale, Rob achieves the markers of popularity and success, gaining entry to a secret society and becoming captain of the water polo team.
The memoir also delves into the theme of The Impact of Environment and Upbringing on Personal Outcomes as Rob remains determinedly connected to his roots throughout his time at Yale. He returns home often and brings Newark to Yale through his style of dress, the photographs of Jackie and the Burger Boyz in his room, and his friends’ visits to campus. Rob’s marijuana use also remains a constant. Hobbs notes Rob’s argument that marijuana enhances rather than limits his academic abilities, helping “him study free from the nervousness that racked his peers” (164). However, the habit also shows his lingering attachment to the “stoop culture” of Newark. Rob’s progression from personal use of the drug to dealing it jeopardizes his place at Yale. His complacency, even after being caught, hints at his growing willingness to take on risks.
While describing Rob’s deeply ingrained loyalty to his neighborhood, Hobbs also explores the theme of The Benefits and Costs of Family and Community Loyalty. Hobbs envies the bond he witnesses between Rob and the Burger Boyz, admitting that he never experienced such a powerful connection with his own friends. At the same time, the memoir suggests that Rob’s friends are not always a good influence. Noting how Tavarus dropped out of college and that Flowy encouraged Rob to sell marijuana at Yale, Hobbs conveys that Rob’s old friends drew him away from fulfilling his potential.
The symbol of Rio de Janeiro emerges in these chapters, representing Rob’s dreams and aspirations. As Rob nears the end of his time at Yale, he focuses on traveling to the Brazilian city, postponing any decisions about the next steps in his career. Rob’s obsession with Rio, to the exclusion of all else, suggests that he is paralyzed by the pressure of expectation. Aware that others, including Jackie, are awaiting the next step in his brilliant trajectory, Rob perceives Rio as a location where he can escape societal pressures and live in the moment.
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