The Basketball Diaries: The Classic About Growing Up Hip On New York’s Mean Streets

A symptom of his war-related anxiety, Jim has a fantasy of bringing a gun to school and “cut[ing] the place to ribbons” (149). Jim clarifies that he does not want to shoot students, but rather the institution of school itself. The Cold War is constantly looming overhead, a “subtle way of life” (150) that makes him feel as if he is living on borrowed time, always hoping to make it to the end before the big bomb hits. Jim begins to see the Cold War more clearly as a tool for instilling fear. He also worries about being drafted into the Vietnam War before accomplishing his goal of becoming a writer.

Jim continues to recount his time playing basketball. One of Jim’s rich friends, Benny, is gay and offers him a position on his basketball team. Benny invites Jim over to try on a uniform and tricks him into getting undressed. When he begins molesting Jim, Jim punches him and runs out. Jim is “so freaked out that [he] even forgot [he] was afraid of elevators” (159). He stays on his own team and earns a bad reputation—along with his group of friends—for being high during games.