Novels are produced for a cause or purpose for the readers. The author either talks about their own experience or stories that they have learnt in life, and then they transform it into a text that we can all understand. In the text ‘Dougy’ by James Moloney, he states real life problems, inviting the readers to learn from the themes and problems that occur. James Moloney tells us that children are not born racist. There will always be critics in life and rules are there for a reason. One of the key themes in the book ‘Dougy’ is that children are not born racist. Racism is clearly stated throughout ‘Dougy’ from the start to the end. It is clear that in the world we live in today, we are still fighting racism too. During the text ‘Dougy’, …show more content…
The theme in this text about critics applies to all of us. No matter where we go or who we are, we will always have critics. People who just don’t like us or are afraid to see us succeed. Gracey was one of those people in the text ‘Dougy’ who had critics. People complained that she recieved a scholarship for free because she was aboriginal. While others refused to acknowledge how good she was. Even people she consider friends, faced Gracey. “that two years in a row now I get beaten by some nobody… Train all year, set the best times then get beaten by a natural from the bush who chases goannas.” (pg51) After Gracey had fairly won her race against Tanya. Tanya refused to acknowledge that Gracey was a faster runner than her. Tanya also refused to show sportsmanship towards Gracey. This hurt Gracey. Gracey thought Tanya and her were becoming good friend. Tanya was all nice and welcoming to Gracey when she arrived at Brisbane but after the final race that all changed. Another theme from the text ‘Dougy’ is that rules are there for a reason. Rules are there for a reason is one of those themes that are said in the text ‘Dougy’ but not truly state. This theme is applied to Melissa Brodie in more than one occasion. Rules are created to make a stable society for everyone. As long as everyone obeys the rules, nothing too drastic should go on, but there are always those who choose not to follow. Those who choose not
Racism is coming back slowly as the years pass us. The only thing that we can do is to keep our bodies safe from all the danger that might happen. Coates feel like the racism is never going to be gone in the world. Coates really wants his son to realize that he won’t always be there to protect his son. There will be who will want to put him down and make him feel less than other people. Coates states, “You would be a man one day, and I could not save you from the unbridgeable distance between you and your future peer and colleagues, who might try to convince you that everything I know, all the things I’m sharing with you here, are an illusion, or a fact a distant past that need not be discussed” (Coates, 90). Coates feel like there will be a bride that will keep him and son from each other one day. That the son will need to know that he won’t be there in person but there as a spirit to help him. The son will need to be able to notice when he might be in danger, and it's all on him on how he reacts from it. Coates talks about how he heard little kids were told by their parents to act extra good around people. The text states, “All my life I’d heard people tell their black boys and black girls to ‘be twice as good,’ which say ‘accept half as much.’ These words would be spoken with a veneer of religious nobility, as though they evidenced some unspoken quality, some undetected courage, when in fact, all they courage, when in fact, all they evidenced was gun to our head and the hand in our pocket” (Coates,91). Coates is trying to say is that there are people that believe in racism and ain't scared to show it at times. People are knowing seeing more racism now these days, since there is a new president for America, and he doesn’t see all people equal. With the actions/ words that Donald Trump are saying towards people, makes other believe that they can also use that type of language and get away with it. We
Gracey rises to the challenge and shows courage when she is racing because she is the fastest runner in the town and Cunningham, and she had no real challenge back in there in are small town. When Gracey got invited to nationals and she doesn’t have the right running shoes because hers are for dirt and grass tracks. The adjudicators said to her that those shoes she is wearing will wreck this running track so she takes them off and starts running in her bare feet and she came close enough to make it to the finals. Gracey got given some running shoes from her coach and she came first in the final race by 1 metre. Gracey’s challenge was to either trust Tanya or not to trust her because at the start of the race she was all nice and this quote proves it ‘I saw your race, Unreal, and in bare foot too. I see you’re going to wear spikes for this afternoon. Just as well, that track can cut up your feet, and of course spikes will always get you a better start. She finished up by wishing Gracey a good luck’ and then at the end of the race she said this ‘That’s two years in a row now I get beaten by some nobody then she said ‘ guess its my fate, train all year , set the best times then get beaten by a natural from the bush who chases goannas for lunch’ well now you see Graceys dilemma, what would you
In Richard Wright’s novel, Black Boy, Richard is struggling to survive in a racist environment in the South. In his youth, Richard is vaguely aware of the differences between blacks and whites. He scarcely notices if a person is black or white, and views all people equally. As Richard grows older, he becomes more and more aware of how whites treat blacks, the social differences between the races, and how he is expected to act when in the presence of white people. Richard, with a rebellious nature, finds that he is torn between his need to be treated respectfully, with dignity and as an individual with value and his need to conform to the white rules of society for survival and acceptance.
As generations have passed, society has become less and less racist. From a young age, many children are taught to celebrate diversity. This instills a sense of being able to love everyone, regardless of skin color or race. But a little over half a century ago, it was a completely different story. There was segregation present in buses, water fountains, and even bathrooms; this was all due to assumptions people made, just based on someone else’s skin color. To add on to the list, parents instilled racism in their children in multiple ways. Records of inequality and racism can be seen in literature from that period of time. Recitatif by Toni Morrison shows how this tragic situation was
The articles of Brent Staples “ Just Walk on By” and Richard Rodriguez “Complexion” comparing the similarities and differences of Staples and Rodriguez 's article. Both authors state the scarring effects of racism on the mind juveniles by the use of personal experiences from their youth.
Unfortunately, a question that many African Americans have to ask in childhood is "Mommy, what does nigger mean?," and the answer to this question depicts the racism that still thrives in America (345). Both Gloria Naylor’s "'Mommy, What Does "Nigger" Mean?'" and Countee Cullen's "Incident" demonstrate how a word like "nigger" destroys a child’s innocence and initiates the child into a world of racism. Though the situations provoking the racial slur differ, the word "nigger" has the same effect on the young Naylor and the child in Cullen’s poem. A racist society devours the white children’s innocence, and, consequently, the white children embody
Rankine’s extensive use of second person point-of-view establishes both directness and vagueness. Throughout the book, the reader experiences racism directly and indirectly, and acts as the author’s medium for expressing ideas and emotions. In one instance, we’re presumably placed in the shoes of a 12-year old Rankine, who allows a fellow student to cheat off of her exam, “You assume she thinks she is thanking you for letting her cheat and feels better cheating from an almost white person” (19). The occurrence is described passingly, as if it was one of many microaggressions young Rankine has experienced in the past. These seemingly normal happenings contrast with the book’s thought-provoking images; a street sign that reads “Jim Crow Road” is pictured after the aforementioned incident (21). Rankine utilizes these contrasts to force the reader to think deeply about
It is often said that kids don’t usually understand race or racism, and that is true until Janie is met with kids who have faced oppression all their lives. Janie is a young girl who is raised by her grandmother in the deep South during the 1930’s. Janie lives among many white kids and doesn’t realize that she is not white until she sees a photo of the children and cannot identify herself in the picture. “Dat’s where Ah wuz s’posed to be, but Ah couldn’t recognize dat dark chile as me. So Ah ast, ‘where is me?’ Ah don’t see me’”(9). Janie didn’t know that she was a black girl because she had always been treated the same as the white kids, and they never treated her any differently than anyone else. The only kids that ever abused her with their words were the other black kids at school, they always teased her for living in
In the book Warriors Don’t Cry, the children of Little Rock were greatly influenced by the society on how they should treat people of color. For example, the students of Central High School were considerably shaped and groomed by their parents racist views. Link’s father told him “colored folks are used to doing without, and i ought not spoil them” (282). These comments have caused children to believe that people of color don't deserve to anything, which led to the verbal and physical abuse towards the nine students at Central High School.
In the real world today, we have laws and rules like at school or out in the city or wherever you are. It helps us to stay on track and to keep everyone safe. Like in the book “Anthem” by Ayn Rand, they have rules and controls that keep them safe and to make sure that everyone is the same and no one is different. They protect the people and secure them from harm's way. The rules are made so that people can all live in peace and not have to worry about anything going wrong.
The famous author Chesnutt presents “The Passing of Grandison” to demonstrate that racism destroys the intelligence of racist. He does this to express his conception of the negativity revolved around racism. Chesnutt’s novella “The Sheriffs Children” relates to “The Passing of Grandison” by relating a southern white man having a mixed child and the lack of education for most racist southern white men. Chesnutt presents racism in “The Sheriffs Children” by exhibiting the quickness of the town to lynch the black man for supposedly murdering a respected white citizen. Chesnutt also presents racism in “The Passing of Grandison” by demonstrating slavery and the masters degrading acts towards Grandison by surmising his caliber of education as nonexistent.
I have always thought and been taught that racism was a form of ignorance; people used stereotypes are the easy route, instead of looking at the individual outside of the whole. But Kelley’s thoughts on the topic rang very true to me—“Racism is knowledge…is learned behavior…” (7). When we are babies, we don’t notice or care if someone is of a different race, socioeconomic standing, sexuality; we just see them as people. It’s through repeated actions that we learn what separates us from the “other”. As a young child, my neighbor was my best friend. We played every day until I moved, but our families still kept in touch. It was until probably the 3rd or 4th grade that I realized he wasn’t like me, he had Down syndrome. Of course, that didn’t make a difference to me then or now, but I find it to be a striking example in my own life that as a young person, I was unable to see anything different about us, to me we were the same, we were
My attempt to comprehend the guiltless letters smothering the lifeless tree in my hands was of interruption as the bus flew over another speed bump. The predestined occurrence led to a sigh, Richard Wright’s autobiography, Black Boy, no longer in my hands, and the bus driver silently cursing under their breath once the rear end of the yellow mobile and a mailbox kissed. Contemplations about the book clouded my thoughts, but my hand didn’t have the audacity to pick up the autobiography and bring it to my eyes once more. Alternatively, I peered out of a dirty window and questioned the horrors previously read about Richard Wright’s childhood. ‘What exactly were his intentions?’, ‘Why were so many rhetorical devices used?’, and ‘When will racism
Racism has been a problematic in society since anyone can remember. Even though we have equal rights in this country, individuals still use racism to belittle people who do not fit their idea of what is ‘‘normal’’. In literature, this aspect of our culture is present to show students how to address it. The novel ‘‘Monster’’ is a good example of material the teacher can commonly explore this problem. This essay will demonstrate how teachers can use the crime novel, ‘‘Monster’’ by Walter Dean Myers, in the classroom, to enhance young adults’ critical capacities. It is possible if the teacher makes the students concentrate on a sole theme, Steve’s trial through racism. By going more in depth, this essay will illustrate how the teacher should proceed in teaching the students about racism, how these classes will proceed, and what examples the students should find.Analyzing RacismAnother manner of using the book ‘‘Monster’’ by Walter Dean Myers is to comprehend what is unsaid in the novel. The teacher can use this to teach the young generation about how this injustice called racism is present and that we must put an end to it. He / she must begin by learning about racisms’ effects on students before giving the class. The teacher could use tools such as the book ‘‘Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together? And Other Conversations About Race’’ (Tatum, 2003) to aid in the comprehension of ‘‘racial identity and the experiences of students of different racial backgrounds’’ (Franzak,
Richard Wright's novel Black Boy is not only a story about one man's struggle to find freedom and intellectual happiness, it is a story about his discovery of language's inherent strengths and weaknesses. And the ways in which its power can separate one soul from another and one class from another. Throughout the novel, he moves from fear to respect, to abuse, to fear of language in a cycle of education which might be likened to a tumultuous love affair.