Catastrophe and Choices: The Significance of Ricky in Boyz n the Hood Meg Henry College

Boyz n the Hood is mainly centred around 3 teenagers; Ricky, Doughboy and Tre; All 3 of which wish to embark on different paths. They live in the Crenshaw ghettos, Singleton uses Ricky in particular to break prejudices surrounding young black males by depicting a promising life which only comes crashing down. His character is also used to show the different paths the other two characters can take in the aftermath of his death.

Doughboy and Ricky are brothers and are arguably treat very differently by their mother. Their mother believes Ricky will be a star yet refers to Doughboy as “fat" and “useless" and draws constant comparisons to his father. Inevitably, this breaks Doughboy's spirits from a young age and provides him with the impression he will not amount to anything. In turn this causes him to embark on a self destructive path; associating with gangs and going in and out of jail. Whereas Ricky who is nurtured and praised has higher hopes for himself. He desires to play football in the NFL and before his death is well on the way to doing so. Rather than trying to help change Doughboy's destructive behaviour his mother focuses all of her attention on Ricky – for self serving reasons but with the nurture that Doughboy needed...