MovieChat Forums > The Wire (2002) Discussion > Duquan and high school

Duquan and high school

posted 4 years ago by daveyh (623)
3 replies | jump to latest

So, during the season 4 finale, Dukie is on his way to attending his first day of high school and gets cold feet, the final straw being when 3 guys walk past him and laugh. While I get that at the time it was nerve-wracking, none of his friends from middle school would be there, the one teacher who'd shown faith in him wouldn't be there etc, I don't understand why he didn't try going back at some point after we're shown this.
It was clear even at this point, never mind season 5, that the corner life wasn't for him. Once he started living with Michael, he was a lot more presentable (neater hair, better fitting and cleaner clothes etc), and while his skinny build and his soft nature would have made him a target for bullies, he may also have met another Prezbo, or found a group or club where he did fit in, just generally found his niche there. And it's not like he wasn't getting at least disrespected and often bullied every day on the corners anyway.
Long story short, he'd have been better suited to school than he was for the streets so it's a pity he missed out.

[–] sadmaxfuryroad (3) 4 years ago

I think he was scared to be around older and bigger kids with harder schoolwork. I think he also realized that Prez was most likely the only teacher that would help in the ways that he did.

[–] JohnnyCastle (393) 4 years ago

He had very low self-esteem and was intimidated by the big new school. In his old school he had friends and Prezbo but going to the new school he had no one. Namond, Mike, Randy, etc none were going to the school with him. Prezbo used to have to do his laundry and all that so he wouldn't get bullied for smelling like shit. So I guess he was afraid of more of that as well.

He thought it was easier to avoid those uncomfortable situations and just go to what he was comfortable with which was the corners. Even though it wasn't a good alternative and he was also bullied/beat up there, it was still something he was comfortable with, sadly.

[–] daveyh (623) 4 years ago

thanks for the replies. The scene I mentioned is on youtube and this had already been discussed in the comments there - something I hadn't really taken in to account was that he didn't have a support network at home or anyone in his life encouraging him to stay in school. The only person he really had after the events of season 4 was Michael and he's not exactly the staying in school type.
At least on the corners, Michael had his back, and, as you say, the corners/the street life was all he knew. Even though he didn't fit in there, it still made more sense to stick with what he knew and he had no motivation to try anything else.