Comparing Whitehead's 'Nickel Boys': Parallels To American Society

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Mary Anna Benko Honors English 12 Mr. Maloney 2 March 2024 Parallels to American Society in Colson Whitehead’s “The Nickel Boys” In “The Nickel Boys”, Colson Whitehead examines the friendship of Elwood and Turner through their suffering at Nickel Academy. When Elwood is shot by his headmasters of Nickel, Turner carries his identity to preserve his legacy. While the boys’ experiences at Nickel appear traumatic to the readers, they often correspond to the society outside of the institution. Nickel reflects negatively on moments of corruption and racism, emphasizing significant issues in American society. The structure of Nickel is meant to instill racism inside its facility, demonstrating prevalent racial injustice in American society. Significant …show more content…

Additionally, black students face more severe punishment than white students. More specifically, black students of Nickel refer to the white campus: “The White House delivered the law and everyone obeyed”. On the contrary, white students refer to the black campus as “The Ice Cream Shop” (Whitehead 66). The name chosen by the black students criticizes white privilege and corruption in both the American government and Nickel. The name chosen by the white students symbolizes the different colored bruises black students receive from the headmasters, illustrating that black students experience greater violence because of their racial identity. In another example, Nickel organizes an annual boxing match between one black student and one white student. Later revealed, Elwood and Turner become aware of the stageness of the match, recalling: “Turner sat up in surprise when he heard Spencer tell Griff to take a dive” (Whitehead 101). Spencer ensuring that a white student dominates the match preserves white privilege and racial violence inside the …show more content…

Elwood describes the match: “White men from town claimed the folding chairs closest to the ring, then came the staff, and beyond that the student body crammed into the bleachers, squatted on the floor, ashy elbow to ashy elbow” (Whitehead 106). The implementation of a boxing match demonstrates an abuse of power by the staff by encouraging violence among its students. Thus, the boys are exploited to fulfill the selfish desires of the staff. Additionally, headmaster Spencer’s methods of discipline abuse the students. In one scenario, “Elwood held onto the top of the bed but into the pillow and passed out before they were done, so when people asked later how many licks he got, he didn’t know” (Whitehead 69). Nickel, being a reform school, is funded by the government to better its students for society. Spencer’s greed allows him to profit from the abuse of his students, keeping him in a place of authority and wealth. Moreover, corruption is present in the school’s community service program. Nickel is provided with food and school supplies to be utilized by students, however, students are involved in selling these supplies to the school’s outside

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