How do Gold Cadillac and Country Lovers differ in their presentation
of Prejudice?
Both Mildred Taylor (Gold Cadillac) and Nadine Gordimer (Country
Lovers) grew up in cultures where racism was a part of their everyday
life. This theme of racism is reflected strongly in their stories.
Mildred Taylor’s experience of racism in the Southern States of
America is reflected in the themes and setting of her writing. She was
born in 1943, Jackson, Mississippi, the strongest racial prejudice
sate found in America. In many of her college preparatory classes,
Mildred Taylor was the only black student. She often found herself
painfully embarrassed by the lacklustre portrait of black people as
presented in history class.
Similarly, Nadine Gordimer’s life in South Africa allowed her to
witness first hand the human effects of segregation and
state-sanctioned racism, during the Apartheid. From her early
childhood, Nadine Gordimer witnessed how the white minority
increasingly weakened the rights of the black majority. She states in
‘The lying days’, which is based closely on her own life, that she had
a “growing disaffection toward the narrow-mindlessness of a small town
life”.
In the Gold Cadillac, the author focuses on the themes of racial
prejudice through family life. By using dialogue, the reader senses
the closeness of the family; we know they are secure and loved, “Wilma
and I hugged our father with our joy. My uncles came from the house
and my aunts, carrying their babies, came out to.” Mildred Taylor and
her father had a special relationship, “From my father I learned to
respect the past, to respect my own heritage and myself”, this is a
quote from Mildred Taylor. I therefore think, Mildred Taylor decided...
... middle of paper ...
...er’s to feel and think
how she feels and thinks. We see how family is important to Mildred
Taylor, because, the father gave up the Gold Cadillac to protect his
family. The Gold Cadillac is represented as America, it may seem to be
a country of freedom, but it really is a country of racism and
prejudice.
The author of Gold Cadillac allows the readers to engage with the
author. Because the narrator is a young girl, the story becomes more
truthful, this helps the reader to create a more vivid image of the
Gold Cadillac.
Finally, both stories have a strong theme of racial prejudice. They
explore deal with and present these tensions in a strikingly different
way, both stories allows the reader’s to engage with the author. We
learn how both Mildred Taylor and Nadine Gordimer’s historical
background help contribute to the stories, bringing the text to life.
The stories that the author told were very insightful to what life was like for an African American living in the south during this time period. First the author pointed out how differently blacks and whites lived. She stated “They owned the whole damn town. The majority of whites had it made in the shade. Living on easy street, they inhabited grand houses ranging from turn-of-the-century clapboards to historics”(pg 35). The blacks in the town didn’t live in these grand homes, they worked in them. Even in today’s time I can drive around, and look at the differences between the living conditions in the areas that are dominated by whites, and the areas that are dominated by blacks. Racial inequalities are still very prevalent In today’s society.
Further, throughout the book, Sadie and Bessie continuously reminds the reader of the strong influence family life had on their entire lives. Their father and mother were college educated and their father was the first black Episcopal priest and vice principal at St. Augustine Co...
In “The Lady in the Pink Mustang” the poet challenges the readers with two contrasting imageries of a woman; the one is the normal woman in her Cadillac while the contrasting image is that of a woman driving her pink Mustang on highways during night. The poem appears to project the two confusing images of a woman during the day time and night. The use of the epithet “Lady” in the title gives the impression of respectability but the word has been used ironically to refer to prostitute, poor woman or a native. The woman’s status is therefore ambiguous and the association of pink Mustang with the woman identifies her class and cultural status in a commercial world where everything sells.
When looking into works of literature, some stories seem to be similar to others. They can have a similar setting, point of view, theme, or sense of language and style. However, all of these points could be very different as well and could cover different theme or style. Flannery O’Conner’s “Good Country People” and Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” have some contrasting elements, such as their points of view and use of symbolism, but their similarities in the underlying theme, language, and the setting of these stories reveal how these two stories are impacted by education on both the individual and their family.
The novel Brown Girl, Brownstones is a fiction story that is about an immigrant family from the Caribbean country of Barbados and their struggles in America. The story is set in New York during the time between The Great Depression and also World War II and is told in a third person point of view so that the reader, being us, understands different components of the story. The story’s main character is a girl named Selina Boyce and the story is told through the stages of her life from when she was around ten years old up to when she was around her early twenties. Immigration, specifically race, played a large factor in the story, with race hindering opportunity, and different characters coping with race in different ways. (Thesis statement)
Within the course of two decades these three novels deal with racism, diversity of people and similar economic status. The writers raise awareness of the oppression of the African American communities and the long lasting struggles that these folks had to endure to survive.
American Exceptionlism is basically the idea that we are different then other countries in the world. Which I believe is false because the U.S has these rules but there not really writing down rules there just like norms that American should have. There are certain attributes that a American should have there are things you should know as a American. Now what am I talking about it could be many things such as knowing who the president is in the big chair in D.C or having a huge truck that can drive up heels. Having the U.S flag out on Memorial Day. So many things can be things that make American. What I want to solely focus on is the idea that country music is what it is to be an American and accepted in the U.S.
Sofia’s encounter with Millie is a daily occurrence in nations worldwide. Her “Hell no” is a justified response to the subservience white people have forced upon African Americans and the constant struggle against black women have against abuse and sexism. Millie is an example of the everyday white woman whose class and social standing prompt her unawareness about social problems and her own racist misgivings. Alice Walker’s novel explores this deep-rooted racism intertwined with social class and sexism. Walker’s writes from the events that have marked her life, other’s lives, and the cruelty that has scarred the black community for years. Hence, the softened racism in the form of stereotypical comments, white superiority complexes, and the sexism towards women of color that fills the
On Being Young-A Woman-and Colored an essay by Marita Bonner addresses what it means to be black women in a world of white privilege. Bonner reflects about a time when she was younger, how simple her life was, but as she grows older she is forced to work hard to live a life better than those around her. Ultimately, she is a woman living with the roles that women of all colors have been constrained to. Critics, within the last 20 years, believe that Marita Bonners’ essay primarily focuses on the double consciousness ; while others believe that she is focusing on gender , class , “economic hardships, and discrimination” . I argue that Bonner is writing her essay about the historical context of oppression forcing women into intersectional oppression by explaining the naturality of racial discrimination between black and white, how time and money equate to the American Dream, and lastly how gender discrimination silences women, specifically black women.
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
As written in Literature and it's Times, a distinct place where racism and prejudice took place was the South. In the early 1900's, the South remained mostly rural and agricultural in economy. Poverty was everywhere, and sharecropping had replaced slavery as the main source of black labor. Blacks who remained in the South received the burdens of poverty and discrimination. The women faced sexual and racial oppression, making th...
Although her story is about the corrupted system and cruelty towards African Americans, I first thought it was about a rape that occurred and the victim, Sandra Bland. After being pulled over for a routine traffic stop, the young woman Sandra Bland was treated unfairly through the series of events, ultimately leading to her death. The usage of hyperbole throughout the essay are both exaggerations and the truth The author now feels vulnerable during her daily driving routine because of her skin color. She feels white police officers see the wrong meaning in her skin. “In the color of my skin they see criminality, deviance, a lack of humanity.” Authorities can only see the bad and the stereotypes through her skin color without knowing who she actually is as a person. Her vulnerability is both visible and invisible to the average eye. Her personality is altered by the traumatic event. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote, “In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body – it is heritage.”; Gay added to this statement by saying, “It is also tradition to try and destroy the black spirt,” America’s traditions do not include destroying black spirts or bodies, however, America does have a reputation for not respectively treating the black body, especially by authority figures. The destruction of her faith in humanity makes her feel as if she is not a living, breathing soul. “I do not feel alive. I
How would you feel if you woke up in the morning, knowing that everyday a mass group of people are against you, because of the color of your skin? America has always come across issues about race, and this is something that will most likely never end. Race is embedded into our society, media, and even our classrooms. Zora Neale Hurston, author of “How it feels to be A Colored Me”, describes her exploration in the discovery of her self-pride and identity. She tells how living in her community she did not feel alienated or different. Tyina Steptoe, author of “An Ode to Country Music from a Black Dixie Chick”, uses a country film to understand her own life because she notices that the film sparked her love for country music, even though she had
The struggles both characters face demonstrate character development and contribute to the themes of the stories. Both short stories prove to be literally effective in that they disclose the main themes at the outset of each story. Although the themes may alter over the course of the stories, they are clearly defined in their respective introductions.
The Black woman struggles against oppression not only as a result of her race, but also because of her gender. Slavery created the perception of Black inferiority; sexism traces back to the beginning of Western tradition. White men have shaped nearly every aspect of culture, especially literature. Alice Walker infuses her experiences as a Black woman who grew up in Georgia during the Civil Rights era into the themes and characters of her contemporary novels. Walker’s novels communicate the psychology of a Black woman under the Western social order, touch on the “exoticism of Black women” and challenge stereotypes molded by the white men in power (Bobo par. 24). In The Color Purple Walker illustrates the life of a woman in an ordinary Black family in the rural South; in his article “Matriarchal Themes in Black Family Literature”, Rubin critiques that Walker emphasizes not only that the Black female is oppressed within society, but also that external oppression causes her to internalize her inferiority. Every theme in Walker’s writings is given through the eyes of a Black woman; by using her personal experiences to develop her short stories and novels, Walker gives the Black woman a voice in literature. Walker demonstrates through her writings that the oppression of Black women is both internal and external.