Character Analysis: Fraymond's Run

“I don’t care what you think about me. I don’t think about you at all.¨ This quote by American singer, Jonathan Davis, shows that, the most important thing in life is to be yourself, to be who you really are. This is how the main character in a short story called ¨Raymond’s Run¨ feels. The protagonist Hazel, known as Squeaky, has a talent for running. But the time period that she lives in does not encourage girls to be runners. Still, she pursues her dream to be a runner. She believes that you should be yourself:, instead of being “a fairy or flower, when you should be trying to be yourself¨ (p. 39, lines 393-395). Squeaky finds people who are not being themselves a “burden¨--like in the song Believer by the Imagine Dragons, Squeaky wants

to be ¨the master of her own sea¨. She works hard to make her dream come true, while making sure her brother Raymond is not getting himself into trouble.

For many people, the most important thing is to be yourself.

Her mother wants Squeaky to be like all of the other girls but Squeaky thinks otherwise--Don't you tell me what you think that I can be. I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea. Living in Harlem in the 1960s, it is tough for Squeaky to bypass the gender stereotypes of her time. Similar to the song, Squeaky was “broken from a young age” with the idea of gender stereotypes-- expectations that have confined her, ever since she was

little:

I was once in a Hansel and Gretel pageant when I was in nursery school and didn’t have no better sense than to dance on tiptoe with my arms in a circle over my head doing umbrella steps and being a perfect fool just so my mother and father could come dressed up and clap. You’d think they’d know better than to encourage that kind of nonsense. I am not a strawberry. I do not dance on my toes. I run. That is what I am all about. (p. 32, lines 192-200)

When Squeaky says that she had “no better sense,” (p.32 line 193), it shows that she was oblivious to the gender stereotypes at the time.

This quote also shows what Squeaky thinks of the gender stereotypes: she wants everyone to be themselves rather than trying to be a “fairy or a flower” (p. 32, lines 185-186). Squeaky wants to define herself--she wants to be like the "Believer" protagonist and be the “master of her sea” instead of having gender stereotypes determine her future. Nevertheless, her mother expects her to be like the other girls; she thinks that Squeaky should do the annual Maypole dance, which Squeaky rebels against:

The biggest thing on the program is the May Pole dancing, which I can do without, thank you, even if my mother thinks it’s a shame I don’t take part and act like a girl for a change. (p. 31, lines 175-178)

Like the protagonist in “Believer” “All the hate that she has heard” has given her drive--in her case to be a runner--to go against gender stereotypes. Squeaky has the drive, speed, and ability; the only piece of the puzzle she needs is a girl role model to look up to. Unfortunately, her mother never accepts the fact that girls can do what boys do; nonetheless, Squeaky is a very successful runner. Despite all of the negativity around her, Squeaky concludes that everyone has to be a “believer”--we all have to believe in ourselves and be our own

¨believer¨.

Living your life not being yourself is a difficult task, so difficult that some people say it is impossible. That is why when the people around Squeaky expect her to be someone she is not, it is an impossible task. Squeaky is expected to be a girl in “a white organdy dress with a big satin sash” (p. 32, line 180) when she would just like to be a runner. Squeaky rebels against this; she disobeys all of the gender stereotypes and she forges her own new path. Many think that Squeaky was just born in the wrong time period as well as the wrong place: Harlem in the 1960s is not the best place and time for an athletic female runner to be. Like the sourness of a warhead candy, Squeaky’s feelings for gender stereotypes are introduced from the start of the story. The author continues to show the hate Squeaky has for gender stereotypes throughout the story. The powerful element about Squeaky is her resilience--how she does not crumble under all the hate that she is a victim of, it shows that she is true “Believer”.