"It Would've been me, if it hadn't been for Sister Rose and I-man and everything I'd learned about myself and life from coming to love them out there at the schoolbus..(384)" This quote in Rule of the Bone reminded me of a famous saying by the British author Winston Churchill “There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.”

“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction” –Winston Churchill.  This quote exemplifies the choices and changes that take toll on Bone in the novel “Rule of the Bone.” In the book “Rule of the Bone”, Bone goes through a miraculous journey from being a drug addicted thirteen year old in New York, to a mature and understanding young man in Jamaica. From once being so dependent on his friends, he is now a man who is capable of going through life as an individual because of the environment that he was surrounded in that allowed him to change. In the saying by Churchill, it is very true that there is nothing wrong with change. In fact it is necessary to change if it is in the “right” direction, and how do we know what that right direction is? We can only base it on the morals, ethics and knowledge that we have been taught and are continuously learning. These changes that take place must allow our lives to be shifted into a better state; otherwise the change is irrational and should not take place. At the start of it all for Bone, his life was in the gutter; being kicked out of his house by his parents, failing in school, smoking weed everyday and being forced to live with an incriminating environment in the Adirondack Iron gang. Bone’s journey was not always easy and when one cannot see the light on the other side of the road, they must be steered in that direction by someone that they can trust, someone that they are close to, and most importantly someone that they respect and can look up to. In Bones’ case, he was very fortunate to have found I-Man in the school bus as well Rose in the mall. I-Man taught Bone how to grow and cook tomatoes, corn, yams and all types of vegetables, as well as teaching him how to grow his own cannabis. Although these lessons may seem laughable to us, it allowed Bone to become more independent and to come to the fact that his survival is of no importance to anyone else. Needless to say, the main lesson taught to Bone was to be appreciative of life, “For I-Man religion was mainly a way to give thanks and praise just for being alive because nobody exactly deserved life (155).” Bone was taught the Rastafarian way of life that allowed him to find faith and inspiration within himself which sparked the change that was so importantly addressed in the Churchill saying. From once being just an arrogant and egotistic child “Well, fuck them. Fuck him. Fuck everyone (129),” Bone has spun his views on life around because of his great teacher and his freedom to grow “Up to you Bone (390).” Although Rose did not have a large of an impact on Bone’s maturity, she did play a role never the less. Just the fact that she was a lost and confused child allowed Bone to grow because as he was helping her, he was helping himself as well “Come wi’ I, he said and grabbed Rose by the hand.” He was now able to guide Rose in the direction that she should be going in just like how I-Man had shown him the way. With Bone’s ability to instruct Rose, it completed his transformation in becoming a better person because when one has fully understood the lesson, he is then able to teach. In Bone’s case, the lesson was life and how he changed his.