The Message and Power of Friendship in The Pact

Peer pressure, pain and poverty are just a few of life’s dark elements that can create a sense of hopelessness and cast ominous clouds of doubt that cover dreams for the future like a heavy blanket. However, these same dark elements were the common denominators between three African American teenage males but instead of clouding their dreams and goals for the future, these elements inspired them to raise above their situation. In fact, the three young men entered into an agreement that they would all become doctors. They refer to their agreement as the pact which is also the title of their autobiographical memoir, that they authored with Lisa Frazier, after they fulfilled their promise to one another. In their autobiographical memoir, doctors Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt and George Jenkins present their pact as a symbol for the inspiration and motivation that their friendship provided thus enabling them to overcome the hardships they faced in their families and among their peers. In addition, the doctors use an informal journal style structure in order to convey the message that with perseverance and determination anything is possible.

In their autobiographical memoir, doctors Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt and George Jenkins use the pact they formed as teenages to symbolize the inspiration and motivation that their friendship provided which propelled them to fulfill their dreams despite the odds that were stacked against them. The three doctors were raised in Newark New Jersey in an environment where it was easy to fall to the drugs that infested the lives and homes of many of its residents. In fact, Dr. Davis recalls witnessing the devastation of drugs in the following line: “I saw many mothers become crack addicts, hustling their bodies to stay connected to their new white god” (Davis 29). His recollection references the harsh reality that many mothers became addicted to crack cocaine, abandoned their children and engaged in prostitution in order to acquire the drugs to which they had become addicted. Sadly, Dr. Davis is not the only pact member with vivid memories of how drugs ruined lives in their Newark neighborhood.

Dr. Hunt experienced the impact of drugs first hand and he shares his experience in the following line “Slowly, her addiction transformed her from the ambitious, loving, attentive mother I adored into a needy woman I struggled to forgive”(Davis 41). He also shares vivid memories of his father who was also an inconsistent presence in his life “My father was a heroin addict, too, and he spent most of my early years doing time for petty he committed to support his habit”(Davis 42). Dr. Jenkins also had encounters with drugs as he witnessed individuals using and selling drugs in the neighborhood and he managed to resist the temptation to become involved “We broke into cliques, with two different groups doing things I just wasn’t willing to do: they sold drugs, stole cars, beat up guys outside of their circle, and caused all kinds of havoc in the neighborhood”(Davis 62). Unfortunately, the three young men did not exit their youth untouched by the presence of drugs. That was close to impossible but after each encounter with drugs, they did manage to escape with their pact to become doctors still in tact. As such, the pact served as a powerful mental image that symbolized their promise to one another and provided the inspiration and motivation to move onward and upward until they reached their goal.

Although inspiration and motivation are two of the key ingredients that are necessary for any recipe for success, the negative peer pressure to become involved in criminal activities, can be so strong that it can override both of these powerful personality traits. Dr. Hunt did not escape negative peer pressure and he almost served several years in prison as a result of it. “I jabbed the crackhead lightly in the thigh right under his butt and quickly closed the blade, hoping I hadn’t hurt him” (Davis 81). In this line, Dr. Hunt shares the memory of his teenage years when he participated in the punching, kicking and stomping of a man who was addicted to drugs. The drug addicted male purchased crack from one of Hunt’s friends and the beating was the result of his failure to leave the school grounds before beginning to smoke his crack.

Although he did not want to participate in the beating of the drug addict, Dr. Hunt remembers that he felt obligated to jump into the fight in order to impress his friends. He added that the negative peer pressure intensified when he revealed to the group that he had a knife. Subsequently, he stabbed the drug addict, was later arrested, and charged with attempted murder but the charges were dropped when the drug addict did not appear to testify in court. Dr. Hunt was really fortunate that the criminal activities of his teenage years did not interfere with his dream of becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, Dr. Hunt was not the only pact member who had an encounter with the legal system. Dr. Davis also experienced a close call with prison time when he gave into negative peer pressure and agreed to drive his friends around the neighborhood while they selected teenagers to rob. Regrettably, one of the teenagers they decided to rob was in the process of selling drugs to an undercover police officer and an audio of the incident was being recorded. When Dr. Hunt discovered this, he ran home but his friends were arrested and this terrified him. As a result, he immediately confessed his crime to his sister and she escorted him to the police station to surrender. Dr. Hunt was seventeen at the time so he faced the possibility of time in an adult prison. Luckily, his attorney worked out a deal for him to plead guilty, receive a two year suspended sentence and the crime would be erased from his recorded since he was still a juvenile. “I was disgusted with myself. But I had just gotten the biggest break of my life. I told myself that I would never end up behind bars again”(Davis 97). These examples personify the challenges that the doctors faced as young adults growing up in an inner city neighborhood that was laden with crime and drugs. Dr. Jenkins was the only one of the three young men to escape the pressure to become involved in criminal activities. However, for all three young men, the significance of their pact, and the friendship that it symbolized, was ultimately more powerful than the short term gratification that was acquired by being accepted by a group of individuals who did not have their best interest at heart and all three of them became doctors.

The pact that the doctors entered into during their teenage years was the guiding force that led to their success. In fact, during their senior year of high school, all three young men applied and were accepted into the Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Plus program at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. Dr. hunt fondly recalls the memories of their college days “We studied together in the evenings and compared grades, and we each competed to do as well as the others”(Davis 114-115). This type of positive peer pressure replaced the negative peer pressure that the young men faced in their neighborhood and the unstable lifestyle that their poverty afforded was replaced with consistent housing and meals in the dormitories on the university campus. Their pact was not only an agreement between friends, it symbolized success and the positive changes that success would bring. The reality of enrolling as college students brought them one step closer to the fact that their pact would one day become a reality and it served as the driving force that would propel them, help them to persevere and remain dedicated to their goals. They realized that giving up on their individual dream to become a doctor would break the pact and hinder the success of the others. As a result, the pact served as the motivation that kept them moving toward their goal of becoming doctors until it became a reality. When they realized their dreams they gathered to celebrate their success. “When the drinks arrived, we raised our glasses high. No need for a bunch of corny words. We knew what we had been through. ‘To friends,’ we said one at a time, clinking our glasses together in a triumphant toast.”(Davis 247). On the day the doctors gathered to celebrate their success, they were reflective and realized that their pact served as the guiding force that enabled each of them to make their dreams come true. The road had been long and rough but the mental image of the pact symbolized all that they wanted to accomplish and they remained focused on their pact in order and elevate themselves educationally, socially and professionally beyond the circumstances of their old neighborhood.

The authors of The Pact use the pact itself to symbolize the power of friendship and to spread the message that with perseverance and dedication anyone can achieve their dreams regardless of their circumstances. Their pact enabled them to overcome the negative pressure from peers who dominated their drug and crime infested neighborhood. The pact ultimately became the guiding force that led to their success and kept them connected years later. Friendships are important and just like negative friendships can derail goals and dreams, positive friendships can provide the motivation that is necessary to make goals and dreams come true as evidenced by the pact between the Dr. Davis, Dr. Hunt and Dr. Jenkins. As such, friendships are important and it is crucial to select friends who are upwardly mobile rather than those headed in a downward spiral because they definitely would love to have the company of a friend!