The scene of where Andy wanted to take off the purple Royals jacket has a huge importance within the story “On The Sidewalk Bleeding” by Evan Hunter, not only does is provide further insight of the significance of the jacket to Andy but it also provides information of what role it plays in the story itself. At the beginning of the scene, it begins with Andy struggling to take off his gang jacket, this was the specific point in the story where he realised that it was, in fact, the jacket that was robbing him of his life and stripping him of his identity. He believed that if he had not been wearing the jacket, right at the time of the Guardians coming from the alley, that he would have been back in the few minutes, just as he told Laura. The jacket symbolized the stereotype, and prejudice that gets put on members on society, in this case Andy was quick to be judged due to the label that was on his jacket in not one but two cases, one being with the couple and the other with the police officer.
It becomes clear that the Guardians didn’t want to hurt Andy but more so the Purple Jacket with the lettering The Royals on the back. Meanwhile, as the scene progresses and Andy finally has his jacket off, it also symbolizes that he wants to get rid of the label “Royal” and instead be known just as Andy and nothing more as he creeps up to his finals moments, however the struggle of Andy taking off his jacket could also exemplify how hard it can be to get rid of a label that society knows you as.
