Important Line From "The Color of Water" Ch. 14

The quote, "Who are you? You ain't nobody! If you want to drop out of school and shoot people and hang on this corner all your life, go ahead, it's your life!" This quote is from the Chicken Man speaking to James and it is important because James had dropped out of school after his stepfather died and his mother had sent him to his stepsister Jack's house every summer to "straighten him out." James was always hanging out with the drunk men on the corner and claimed that the Chicken Man had no idea how smart he was, when the chicken man asked why he was failing and if he was so smart why was he there? James actually decided to take these words to heart and decided to try to quit using drugs and drinking and go back to school so he could eventually get his grades back up and go to college. This is why Chicken Man's quote is important.