The story is being told by Ken himself from inside Halawa Prison on the island of Oahu. In the beginning of the story Ken's mother passes away and he is left with his father who is extremely distant and violent. Ken's grows up fighting and causing trouble, especially when he befriends Koa. Koa also comes from a childhood surrounded by violence, and as a result uses violence as a way of dealing with things. .
After graduating, Ken leaves the windward side of the Island where he grew up, and moves to Honolulu. Ken moves because he is afraid that he would end up like every other guy on the windward side, working construction, married, and unhappy. When Ken gets to Honolulu he tries to stay in school, but instead ends up getting a job at a strip bar working for a woman named Mama San. From there Ken is enveloped into a life debt collecting and strong arming. This is until he meets his boss's daughter, Claudia. Claudia and Ken quickly fall in love and soon after become pregnant. This is unfortunate because Mama San does not approve and she attempts to have Ken killed. Luckily for Ken he avoids being murdered, but ends up having to kill the three men sent to kill him. Claudia and he are forced to leave Honolulu. Ken and Claudia end up moving back in with Ken's father which ends up being a nightmare. Claudia and Ken's father do not get a long at all, and continually argue. During one of their arguments Ken's father hits Claudia. This argument ends with Ken killing his father and being put in jail.
One way to show the presence of Social Darwinism is to show that the characters have no free will. The question of whether or not humans have free will can be answered by defining two main points. What is a free action, and what controls the unconscious? A famous philosopher named Baron d"Holbach defines a free action as, "An act completely free from motive." So that brings another question what is a motive and where does it come from.
