[purpledove]

I fail to see how Chris was a "casualty of the system". I have a little trouble buying his stated desire to transfer to a vocational school for training mechanics...in any city there are plenty of mechanics around, and you just need a little guts to up to a bunch of them and say "I want to be a mechanic, please tell me how". Sooner or later, you're going to get a lead. They may or may not take you on, but I find it difficult to believe that you can't become a mechanic if you show at least some of the signs of being worth an investment in time - maturity, respect, willingness to work hard, motivation, some relevant experience like, say, fixing other things that are less expensive than but share some characteristics with cars, etc...

I get the impression that Chris' journal writings have more to do with his gang aspirations than his desire to live an honest life. Gangs are known to deal in stolen cars, and they deal with shady characters who perform a variety of roles to support this illegal business - ripping cars apart, putting together knock-offs, making illegal modifications, and so on. With a little work, I have no doubt Chris will be able to satisfy his love of cars as a gang member.

Being a gang member is a high risk / high reward proposition, but it has a variety of perks: money, women, and cars among them. This leaves the issue of morality untouched - clearly gangs are evil and mechanics are good...but you can't teach someone to be good.