Dear William, Daniel, Catherine, (and Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

Circa 1961, “West Side Story” fascinated me, and my friends. I think that I saw that movie, in the movie theater, approximately 25 times. My friends and I knew the all the songs from the movie; we would re-enact all the scenes; and, in turn, we would play the various characters in the movie. Most often, I would identify with Tony, and sometimes with Bernardo.

This movie is a modern version of William Shakespeare‘s “Romeo and Juliet” — it is a tragedy. A tragedy is a drama that involves human suffering, it is usually very sad, and it ends very badly, usually with someone’s death.

A few days ago I was writing to you about modern class struggles in Baltimore — well, in 1961, in New York City, one of the main class struggles was between established “Americans,” depicted in this movie by the gang called the “Jets,” and the new immigrants from Puerto Rico, depicted in this movie by the gang called the “Sharks.”

Notice how Bernardo and many of the other young men wore leather wrist bands — for over a year, I never left home without mine.

Here is the opening scene from the movie:

The social struggles between the members of the Sharks and the Jets become complicated when Tony, a former leader of the Jets, meets Maria, Bernardo’s sister (Bernardo is the leader of the Sharks); and they fall in love.

Another struggle in the movie is between the experience of the Puerto Rican man and the Puerto Rican women — between the disappointments of reality and the hopes that America offers. That conflict is explored in this dance number:

Ultimately, the conflicts between the Sharks and the Jest explode into a rumble — a violent fight — which ends with an unexpected death, just like in the play Romeo and Juliet.

I am sure you will study this play Romeo and Juliet in school — pay attention to it. Learn from it; incorporate its lessons into your own lives; and try to avoid those heartaches in your lives as much as possible.

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.