The Warriors (Novel)

The Warriors is a novel writen by Sol Yurick in 1965. It was later a inspiration for a movie by Walter Hill that was later released 14 years after the book was published (1979).

Plot[]

The novel begins with a quote from the Xenophon's Anabasis. In addition, throughout the novel, the character, Junior, reads from a comic book, a classic-comics version of this very story.

The story starts out during the evening of July 4. Ismael Rivera, leader of The Delancey Thrones, the largest gang in New York City, calls together a grand assembly of street gangs to the Bronx. Gangs from all over the city, signaled by a Beatles song on the radio, head to the designated meeting place at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. As per instructions, none of them carry any weapons at all, save for a single handgun – a peace-offering to Ismael.

Among the numerous gangs are the Coney Island Dominators, a mixed black (Afro American) / Hispanic gang who are the central characters of the novel. Representing the Dominators are Papa Arnold, the leader of the gang; Hector, the gang's second-in-command; Lunkface, the strongest and most dangerous member; Bimbo, the gang's soldier, advisor, and bearer; Hinton, the gang's artist (tagger) and central character of the novel; Dewey, the level-headed member who is the gang's mascot; and The Junior, the youngest of the group.

When everyone is at the meeting, Ismael announces and tells everyone that he wants a truce between them all, and for them to challenge "The Man" (society, otherwise called "The Others"). After the speech, some gangs couldn't help but to start fighting with each other. Not long after the police arrived, after being tipped off of a big rumble. After seeing this many gangs thought that Ismael had set them up. So they turned on him and used their peace-offering guns

When every gang member is at the meeting, Ismael announces his plan to all the gangs, with other Thrones relaying the message to the ones in back who cannot hear. His vision marks a grand truce designed to challenge 'The Man', society or otherwise called the 'Others'. After a stirring speech, the assembly cannot help but transform into chaos as several dissident gangs begin fighting amongst one another. Not long after the police made their arrival, having been tipped off about a big "rumble", many gangs had gotten this incident out-of-context by thinking Ismael has set them up, they all turned against him and also turn their peace-offering hand guns against him as well to commit second-degree murders on Ismael.

The Dominators seemed to escape from the cops and make it to the Woodlawn Cemetery, but Papa Arnold is nowhere to be found, due to their leader falling victim behind the vindictive rage of Ismael's gang members, it is up to Hector who is the aforementioned second-in-command to be promoted as the newly appointed leader of the Coney Island Dominators, to lead the remaining delegates from the Bronx back to Coney Island and make sure his comrades are all safe, but it will be a dangerous trip for them because they will have to pass through enemy ridden gang turfs.

When Hinton suggests removing their gang insignia: Mercedes symbols stolen off cars and converted into stick-pins from shop class at school which the gang wears on their hats - he is severely chastised. However, as Hinton is more familiar with the surrounding neighborhood, having lived there before, he is given the task of leading the gang out of Woodlawn Cemetery where they presently are, having escaped the cops during the ensuing chaos.

The gang decides to call Benny, the youth board worker assigned to their case, to come and drive them home. However, while waiting for him to arrive, the gang gets restless and finds their way to the subway station. After a short while however, the train is stopped due to track work that was caused by a fire, and the gang must take an alternate route. En route to the alternate subway station to look for a fuctional train, the gang runs into a bigger problem, which is their encounter with the Boriquen Blazers, a Puerto Rican immigrant gang.

Hector meets and speaks with the leader of the Boriquen Blazers to parley for safe passage, and the negotiation goes well until a girl, one of the Blazers’ debs, desires one of the Dominators’ insignia pins which are the Mercedes symbols stolen off cars hoods and converted into stick-pins. When they refuse, the girl taunts and chastises the Blazers’ leader, challenging his manhood so for the sake of pride, the leader then demands that the Dominators remove their pins in exchange for safe passage.

Because of the nature of the Dominators that is also prideful, things quickly escalate into an argument, with the Dominators heading off to their destination, the Blazers have not retaliated because their reinforcements have not arrived yet. Now angry, Hector riles up the gang into a violent mood, deciding to spite the Blazers by going through their turf as a “war party” – an act performed by a gang ritual of changing the positions of the cigarettes in their hat brims.

While continuing on their journey, the Dominators realize they’re being tailed by the girl deb and a scout from the Blazers. They quickly ambush both, then they started off by mugging the scout for his switchblade, and chasing him off. Lunkface convinces the girl to keep them company on the promise of a pin and a rank (of “sister”) among the gang. The Dominators all of a sudden then encounter a lone individual and instigate a fight, the girl cheering them on while they take turns stabbing the man with the pocket blade that they had robbed from the scout. Then, with emotions running rampant, the Dominators turn against the girl and began to gang-rape her, then abandoning her on the streets as they rush off to the next subway.

Throughout the novel, the gang consistently play games of ‘manhood’, either to relieve boredom or to settle disputes among each other: waiting for the train, the Dominators have a contest as to who can urinate the farthest. Later, on the train, Hector passes out pieces of candy bars he has bought to the gang. When they start teasing Lunkface with a piece that’s fallen on the floor, he gets so angry he quits the gang right there. Hector eases the situation by selecting a member for punishment – Hinton – and Lunkface "insults” him by puffing on Hinton’s “war cigarette”. Then Hector holds another “manhood” game involving the gang sticking their heads out the train window until it passes into the subway tunnel. Hinton wins, nearly killing himself in the process.

When they arrive at the 96th Street and Broadway station, the Dominators encounter a transit cop who is eyeing them suspiciously. The Dominators were aware that the police are trying to round up all the gangs in the city, and that they are still in possession of the knife they used to stab an enemy with, who is probably dead by now. The Dominators evade the transit cop by jumping off the train just as he boards onto it, but more police appear as they flee: Hinton jumping onto the tracks into the subway tunnel, Dewey and Junior jumping an uptown train, and Hector, Lunkface, and Bimbo running out of the station altogether.

With all three of them running out of the subway station, Hector, Lunkface, and Bimbo run into Riverside Park. Now, without the other gang members to see them, the trio decides to removes their insignia pins so to avoid arrest. While in the park: a fat, aging, heavy-set nurse sitting on a bench who is apparently boozing, has caught the attention of the trio. Lunkface takes the most interest in her, but the bigoted woman is only interested in Hector, however, referring to Lunkface and Bimbo as "n!ggers". Hector lures the large lady to a secluded spot where they all jump this next victim, and she accepts them willingly. However, when Bimbo starts rifling through her purse, she changes gears from being carefree to reacting angrily. When Lunkface, frustrated, punches her to keep her still, the woman retaliates with unexpected strength and starts screaming “Rape!” The trio, unable to overpower her, flee, but are promptly caught and given police brutality before being arrested.

Meanwhile, Hinton, inside the subway tunnel, takes time for some self-reflection. Feeling like a true outsider, and resenting the gang, he unleashes his contempt by tagging on the wall, and puts the gang down. Then, feeling guilty, he rubs out his insults and replaces them with the gang “tag” (he has been marking everything with their tag throughout the novel).

Hinton then arrives at the Times Square station, the designated meeting location. While waiting for the gang, he enters a public restroom and fornicates with a prostitute, then he shakes off a homosexual and a young junkie offering sexual favors for money, travels back and forth on the shuttle to Grand Central Station and, overcome with an inexplicable hunger, eats incessantly. When he comes to an arcade, he plays a shootout game with a dummy sheriff, winning not once, but twice. Before he knows it, he has achieved everything he usually does with the gang, and wonders why he needs them.

Dewey and Junior finally meet up with Hinton, and the trio head off to try to complete their journey home. Although Dewey outranks Hinton, Hinton takes over the role of leader, as he has an unexpected natural knack for the job. A pair of jocks, returning home from their senior prom with their dates, eye the trio challengingly, but Hinton doesn’t back down, feeling a sense of moral victory as he does.

Hinton, Dewey and Junior finally arrived back to their home of Coney Island. After a brief moment of celebration, Hinton, all riled up with both a feeling of anger and a little sense of victory, they spontaneously call out a rumble against the Colonial Lords, rival gang to the Dominators.

Rushing to the Lords’ regular hangout to challenge them, Hinton calls them out. They don’t respond, and Hinton celebrates this victory by drawing a huge mural on the hangout wall, insulting the Lords with obscene graffiti, vulgar insults, and celebrating the Dominators. The trio then venture back to where the Dominators’ debs have been waiting, Hinton regretfully telling the girlfriends of Hector, Lunkface and Bimbo that they didn’t make it back. Papa Arnold’s girlfriend mentions that Arnold made it home hours ago, and Dewey and Junior walk off with their girlfriends.

Hinton, not having a girlfriend, goes home. When he arrives, his mother, Minnie, is in the midst of fornicating with her boyfriend, Norbert. Hinton tends to the baby, who was being neglected, talks with his older half-brother Alonso for a brief moment, and finally crawls out onto the fire escape and falls asleep, his thumb in his mouth; a poor, creative, neglected kid trapped in a gang beneath him in an uncaring, unfeeling city.

Gangs[]

Coney Island Dominators – From Coney Island, Brooklyn, the gang's members are black and Latino. They are noted as wearing blue paisley polo shirts, monkey jackets, tight black chino pants, ankle boots and high-crowned narrow-brimmed straw hats with Mercedes-Benz hood emblems attached.
Delancey Thrones – From the Bowery, Manhattan, a Latino gang that wears red T-shirts, white pants and caps.
Colonial Lords – Another gang from Coney Island and a rival to the Dominators.
Morningside Sporting Seraphs – From Morningside Heights, Manhattan. They are noted as wearing big, bulky hats leaned to the side.
Borinquen Blazers – From the Bronx, a Puerto Rican gang noted as wearing bright, striped shirts, pegged slacks, high cloth-front shoes with pearl buttons and wide brimmed straw "plantation owner" hats worn low.
Castro Stompers, Golden Janissaries, Jackson Street Masai, Intervale Avenue Lesbos – Four gangs from the Bronx who were briefly mentioned.
Spahis – Briefly mentioned gang with un-described territory.
Unnamed Irish gang - Sporting crew cuts, long sideburns and sweaters.
Unnamed African-American gang - Sporting pompadours, black headbands, black dress shoes and raincoats.

Book & Film Diffrences[]

The film focuses on nine members of a Coney Island street gang actually named the Warriors; their names are Ajax, Cleon, Cochise, Cowboy, Fox, Rembrandt, Snow, Swan and Vermin. They are racially mixed, except that the tagger is the only one who stayed faithfully Latino to his book counterpart. The novel on the other hand, focuses on seven members of a Coney Island youth gang named the Coney Island Dominators; their names are Papa Arnold, Bimbo, Dewey, Hector, Hinton, The Junior and Lunkface. All are either Afro-American / Afro-Hispanic or Latino.
Throughout the novel, the character the Junior reads from a comic book, a classic-comics version of the story Anabasis by Xenophon, on which the book is loosely based. There is no reference to that story in the film, although the film's plot line is much closer to the plot line of Anabasis than the novel.
The Warriors' dress code consists of a maroon-colored pleather vest (originally a plain brown leather vest during development), embroidered with the Warriors' logo on the back: a death's head with an Indian war bonnet shaped like eagle wings. The gang has an overall biker-like Native American theme, which is accented by the Indian-style bead necklaces and armbands worn by some members. The Dominators' have no dress code, but rather a gang attire that consist of the aforementioned uniform such as tight black chino pants, high-topped black ankle boots, most wearing "short" jackets that are "monkey-jacket" tight all except for Bimbo, who wears a raincoat in order to carry the gang's "supplies", completed with high-crowned straw-hats bearing both their "war cigarettes": black-papered, hand-rolled cigarettes concealed in the narrow-brims of the hats that signify the gang's current status (at war, at peace, etc.), depending on their position, and the gang's insignia on the hats: Mercedes-Benz symbols which have been broken off of the cars and converted into pins in their wood-shop class.
The Warriors never actually murder anybody, even in self-defense, they are rather depicted as brutish antiheroes, only to have one villainous gang called The Rogues. The Dominators are ruthless villains like any other gang in the book, they murder an innocent bystander just for looking at them, and meet women they find attractive to lure them in unsupervised areas only to gang-rape them.
Rembrandt (Warriors) and Hinton (Dominators) share the role of the artist in their respective gangs, however have totally different personalities. Rembrandt is portrayed as being level-headed but weak when it comes to fighting, whereas Hinton is a lot braver and has a rep for going "psycho" every now and then. Hinton ends up being the focal point of the novel.
In the film, the Warriors encounter a gang called the Orphans who try to prove they're tough by showing the Warriors newspaper articles of incidents and crimes done by their gang. In the novel, the Dominators encounter a gang called The Boriquen Blazers and "exchange" newspaper articles with them of their doings in an attempt to avoid trouble from the gang. Possibly Walter Hill, who directed the film, may have replaced the Dominators with the Orphans as well as the Dominators' role as the protagonists.
In the film, the gang conclave (assembly) is called by Cyrus and the Gramercy (Manhattan) Riffs; in the novel, the conclave is called by Ismael Rivera whose gang's name is the Delancey Thrones.
In the film, Cyrus is shot and killed by the nihilistic Luther, leader of the Rogues, who then blame the Warriors because Fox caught Luther in the act as a witness. In the novel, when Ismael's conclave is broken up by the police, several of the gangs take it for a sabotage; their leaders pull their peace-offering pistols originally to serve as a truce to the Thrones and shoots their leader Ismael.
The Dominators are all in their mid-teens. The Warriors' ages are never specified (although most of the actors playing them were, at the time, in their twenties).
Both the Warriors and the Dominators have themes to their gangs, however they are very different. The Warriors have a Native American theme, calling their leader and second in command Warlord and Warchief respectively, whereas the Dominators base their youth gang on New York crime families, calling their leader and second in command Father and Uncle respectively. The rest of the Dominators are "brothers" to each other, with the third in command being "Eldest Son".
In the film, a girl called Mercy (played by Deborah Van Valkenburgh) leaves the Orphans and follows the Warriors after their encounter Mercy and Swan start up a romance (this is usually a common Hollywood trope where the love-interest plays the part in the story). In the novel, the story is more dark and gritty towards females in gangs, where a girl who was with the Boriquen Blazers decides to follow the Dominators after an encounter, however the Dominators end up gang-raping her and leaving her behind. In both of these situations, the girl initially tries to stir up the Warriors/Dominators by asking for a piece of their clothing. Mercy (the Orphans' girl) asks for a Warriors vest, and the Blazers' girl asks for a Dominators pin.
Both the Warriors and the Dominators get split up into three separate parties at West 96th Street . One party (Hector, Lunkface and Bimbo) heads toward Riverside Park; another (Dewey and Junior) jumps onto another train; the third (Hinton) enters a subway tunnel.
The Dominators never get involved in rival gangs that they have to fight against, as they spend the bulk of the novel on the subway, which is neutral territory, whereas the Warriors get into multiple brawling encounters after being framed by a newly rival gang leader for the murder of a charismatic gang leader.
After the Warriors (in the film) fight and defeat a rival gang named the Baseball Furies, one of them, Ajax (James Remar), attempts to rape a young and beautiful brunette who turns out to be an undercover Policewoman (Mercedes Ruehl), which gives her no choice but to handcuffs Ajax to one of the backrest-slats of the bench and have him arrested by reinforcements, he tried to escape and fight off the Policemen with one arm but no avail. The Baseball Furies do not even appear in the novel; instead, three of the Dominators: Hector, Lunkface, and Bimbo attempt to lure in and gang-rape a large, aging nurse who appears to be a complete opposite of her cop counterpart in the film, such as being an alcoholic, she has all of them arrested by screaming for the police instead of blowing a whistle.
Six of the Warriors make it home; only four of the Dominators make it home.
The film's ending promises the potentiality of happiness but the novel's ending shows the coming of age for the now broken Dominators.
In the novel, at Grand Central Station, Hinton plays an arcade game of 'shoot it out with the sherriff'- consisting of a moving mannequin sherriff and a fake gun (which the player must draw before the sherriff does). Hinton plays this game a few times, indicating his hatred and rejection of authority in general. In the film, Swan (Michael Beck), at the Union Square station, is being tailed by a rival gang (called the 'Punks' in the films credits), and, acting nonchalant, stops in front of a nearby arcade, standing right next to a 'shoot it out with the sherriff' arcade game. Possibly this was director Walter Hill's tip-of-the-hat to the novel.
In the film, Warlord Cleon (Leader of the warriors) is jumped and (apparently) beaten to death by the Gramercy Riffs while checking on the dead body of Cyrus after Luther (David Patrick Kelly), who "really" shot Cyrus, blames the murder on The Warriors after Fox (Thomas G. Waites), one of the Warriors, saw him do it. In the book, Papa Arnold (Leader of the Dominators) is also jumped for checking out Ismael's dead body but it is revealed at the end of the novel that he makes it back "hours ago" before the three remaining members (Hinton, Dewey, and The Junior) of the gang in the end.

Covers[]

Trivia[]

Sol Yurick wrote the original book as a rebuttal to the romanticized view of street gangs presented in West Side Story (1961).
The plot is based on Yurick's experience as a New York City welfare department worker.