Teju Cole's 'The Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven'

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Recommended: Racism today and earlier

Racism continues to be prevalent in society. Just because someone’s skin color is different from the white society we live in, it does not mean they are any different. Racism is present today in many races. Whether it be African Americans, Mexicans, or Native Americans, they are all effected by inequality. These races are not the only ones that we are confronted with racism in today’s society. While the struggle of racial inequality continues to be problematic, literature helps to make readers known of the struggles, hardships, and conflict within racial inequality. In Teju Cole’s “A Piece of the Wall”, Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”, and Flannery O’Conner’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” all discuss racial inequality …show more content…

He knew what the cashier was feeling because he had been in that situation before but the cashier “knew this dark skin and long, black hair of mine was dangerous” (402 Alexie). It is a common thing for people to be judged off their looks that the narrator knew how the cashier felt. This is an example of the fact that he gets this same reaction from the cashier that he gets from many other people. He goes on to try and make the cashier comfortable but just because he was Native-American. In this a short story, skin color is used as a metaphor for all dark skin people because he is referring to anyone that is dark skinned that walks into that 7-11 will be watched closely because they will be looked at like they are about to rob the store. Continuing in this short story, the author “sometimes… wonders if people on the other end of the line know that I’m Indian and if their voices would change if they did know” because he feels that he is always being judged. If people know he is Native-American they look down on him. He is used to people treating him this way that he does not think anyone is not racist. He notices that people use different language while talking to him and also are more tempted to act differently. Additionally, a cop decides to pull over the …show more content…

The grandmother and main character of this story has her own personal view of what characteristics make “a good man”. The grandmother revels her racist side when she comments on a child’s race. Looking out the window, she commented on this African American child saying that “little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do” she also adds by calling him a “cute little pickaninny” (296 O’Connor). Although she shows that she has compassion for the plight of African Americans, she also clearly has racist feelings. She uses foul language while addressing the race of this young

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