The writer acts as the narrator of the book, describing his experiences growing up in Maryland under the strict parentage of his father. His brother Big Bill guides him in this process, providing the macho gun-carrying foil to Coates’s nerdy fantasy-loving self. Coates is forced to deal with the broader cultural climate of Baltimore in the 80s, where crack cocaine, gang violence, and under resourced education systems create a situation where young black boys like Coates are nearly destined to succumb. Writing from his perspective today, Coates describes this upbringing in mythic proportions, revealing his childhood love for epic tales. He is a daydreamer, caught up in worlds outside the one he's living in. He doesn't like to fight, which leaves him with a reputation for being “soft” (48) in the eyes of his peers.

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s brother Big Bill is a warrior, well suited for the jungle that is Baltimore in the 80s. Bill soaks in the “Knowledge” unlike Coates, and he has an ego that sometimes gets him into trouble. At one point he buys a gun, and he later begins to deal marijuana while attending Howard University.