How It Went Down

Though weapons in general are symbolic of power in the narrative, knives come to the forefront as weapons that define the power of the gangs themselves. Both the Stingers and the Kings carry weapons that define their allegiance to their gang. The Stingers, in fact, get their name from the yellow knives they carry around, while the Kings have red knives. Tariq owns a red knife, and it is more fire to the fuel surrounding whether or not he joined the Kings. Tina finds the knife and seeks to protect Tariq by hiding the knife from the police and later burying it with the help of Tyrell. It’s revealed that the knife belonged to Junior, a Kings member now in jail who asked Tariq to hold the knife so that he wouldn’t get in trouble with it (he gets life in jail anyway). Knives are also used to threaten and intimidate, and Tyrell almost makes the choice at the end of the narrative to cut Jack Franklin’s face with a knife in retribution for Franklin killing Tariq. As such, knives are symbolic of power and an extension of fear.