When trying to come to a consensus as to why a child behaves the way they do, there are a lot of possible reasons. Some children are victims of their imagination, simply and blindly following whatever pops into their head and finding it fit to execute. Some children take advice from their friends and in most cases, those decisions lead to negative outcomes. Initially, most children learn directly from their parents and those lessons help shape the person that they become in the world. As we read the novel "Not Without Laughter , we begin to meet a young boy by the name of Sandy. Sandy's life wasn't easy, but he found a way to make it through by meeting different people. His interactions with those people, helped shape his personality and helped him to survive in that atmosphere. The Langston Hughes written novel, inspired by the hardship of a race/community is an interesting, yet information filled read. It puts on a display of Sandy being brought up in a society where he has to learn and be exposed to things that he probably shouldn't have to at his age. Due to his circumstances, his environment and the people in it exhibited negative behavior. This negative behavior resulted in not many people being instrumental in his life. His grandparents were the only people who gave him periodical advice and positive affirmations. Sandy had to go out every single day and continue to be abused verbally by his peers. His "peers  being those of another race who didn't see him as equal. The ridicule came because the color of his skin wasn't what most people perceived to be acceptable at the time. The only thing he had to get him through this constant reminder of an unjust world were encouraging words from his grandmother. It was noted that his grandmother's words were what helped him learn to not give up. A father is usually very instrumental to the life of a child. A child can learn so much from a father that they can learn from no other pers