Squeaky In Toni Cade Bambara Raymond's Run

Most people have probably heard the phrase nurture vs. nature. This is related to psychopaths, or on a smaller scale, bullies; it is referring to someone's parents and bloodline versus how someone is raised to believe This short story by Toni Cade Bambara, called “Raymond’s Run”, shows perfectly that even people who seem tough, mean, and surly,deserve empathy. Squeaky, the main character, seems tough on the outside, however it is just a shield, or a mask to hide that she is hurt. There are many reasons for Squeaky to be hurt; her brother is mentally disabled or challenged, she is facing poverty, and she does not think her mother accepts and supports who she is as a person. However Squeaky has much more depth than what people see on the outside--her

life is tragic and one would expect her to act in this way or worse.
Squeaky may seem surly, rude, and sassy at first, however it is just a cover up for the troubles she faces in everyday life, she is actually compassionate, kind, and caring. One of those many problems is introduced to us when Squeaky, the main character, is setting the scene for her readers by narrating her home life, and her mentally disabled older brother; she describes that she does not have to do house work or earn her own pocket money she just has to take her of her brother Raymond, which is enough for her. It is unsettling for Squeaky that she was given the task of taking care of him and probably somewhat ashamed of him because of his disabilities, however in the same time she feels that if anyone wants to mess with him there gonna have to go through her first because she cares about him and loves him. Considering that she is talking about her family you could say that her family is emotionally there in this point in the plot; in addition to this she tells us how when her older brother, George, was taking care of him people picked on Raymond a lot more, however now that she is protecting him all the “smart mouths” have to go through her first.
A quote that gives us insight about Squeaky’s more compassionate side is shown on page 25-26, lines 8-16:
“Sometimes I slip and call him my little brother Raymond. But as any fool can see he’s much bigger and and he’s older too. But a lot of people call him my little brother cause he needs looking after casue he’s not quite right. And a lot of smart mouths got lots to say about that too, especially when George was minding him. But now, if anybody has anything to say to Raymond, anything to say about his big head, they have to come by me.”
This is clear evidence of how Raymond is different than all the other kids on the block and that it could be challenging; the way Squeaky says that she sometimes slips and calls him her younger brother sounds like she is kicking herself for even thinking about it. This shows that is not only ashamed of Raymond because of his disabilities; she is also ashamed of herself for letting herself feel that way. In the story multiple times she tells about how people are so stupid to tease Raymond, so she probably feels guilty and does not want to be like all the others. She wants to consider herself a person who understand and accepts that Raymond has a disability and that it is not his fault. However this does not mean that she is not compassionate-- her being angry with herself with simply calling him her little brother shows that she understands that it is not fair to call him her younger brother since he has a mental disability. In addition to that she makes herself into a human shield-- she will not let anybody cause him trouble without going through her first. She also told in the rest of the text that she rather just knock somebody down instead of having a lot of chitchat-- this may seem like violent and reckless behavior however she is simply trying to protect her brother from the stupid people who want to tease him. This quote illustrates that taking care of Raymond is hard, stressful, and complicated. It shows the troubles she faces in everyday life, and what forces her to build a wall separating her emotions from the world. Not leaving her vulnerable to all the evil in the world. This is related to Raymond because many people make fun of him and that could affect her.
As we get to know more about Squeaky’s home life and community we find that Squeaky is angry that she is being stereotyped because of her gender.

Once again to protect herself from the negative energy she acts like she doesn’t care what others think of her; even though she wishes society accepted for who she is and didn’t have to have the bad girl reputation.At this point in time Squeaky is still telling us about her homelife and community, however now instead of narrating she is more of thinking to herself. She tells how her mother does not understand her passion for running and thinks that it makes her seem uncivilized--or unlady like. She feels that she can show everybody her value through being the best at running, unfortunately her mother feels that she should be doing girly activities and showing she can be classy and gentle-- which is how society saw girls in history. She must feel tired of having to consider herself different and acting like she does not care what others think-- and wishes that her mother would accept her. She also must feel disappointed considering that if her mother feels this way about Squeaky she must feel this way about herself as well; their for she wishes her mother believe that she ( her mother ) can run and do “boyish” things.This is shown in the text on page 28 and lines 69 to 76 she shows how she

feels:
“Now some people like to act like things come easy to them, will not let on that they practice. Not me. I’ll high prance down 34th street like a rodeo pony to keep my knees strong even if it does get my mother uptight so that she walks ahead like she's not with me, don’t know me, is all by herself on a shopping trip, and I am somebody else’s crazy child. “
This quote demonstrates that Squeaky is unhappy with the way her society looks at her it also shows that she is a hard worker-- it also means that she cares about her running. Her making sure her knees are strong shows commitment to running; in addition this shows she cares for her running career enough to hurt and strain her relationship with her mother. This also shows that she is facing troubles in her life, with her mother and other people who decide to stereotype her because of her gender-- especially because she is so different then what she is considered to be. This is one of the most challenging for Squeaky; to have a strained relationship with her mother and be different than everybody else.While this quote may come off as though Squeaky really didn’t care about what other people thought of her, it is yet another cover up for her sadness and troubles. In general she does not want people to view her as a stereotypical girly girl; however she wants to be her own person and create her own path-- instead of doing what society tells her to do.
As Squeaky continues to tell us about the people which surround her and her everyday life we start to understand that she does not live in one of the best neighbourhoods; rather she lives in a neighborhood where it might be more important to be tough then to be smart--because of this Squeaky is forced to make herself tough in order to fit in and so she will not be bullied. In the middle of the story Squeaky is heading to May Day and telling us how she takes her time to get to May Day because the track meet is the last thing on the May Day program. She then thinks to herself of how her mother wants her to dance in the May Pole dance and does not understand why. The way she sees it, it only causes trouble for her and her family. They do not have money for an organdy dress, satin sash, and baby-doll shoes. She also feels that if she was to dance she would be betraying herself, by acting like a flower or a fairy instead of being herself, and angry that her mother wants her to be a dancer so bad even though she does not. This shows that she is facing many problems in her life, and that her homelife may not be as swell as she would have hoped. We know that Squeaky does not live in the best neighborhood thanks to this quote on pages 31 to 32, lines 175 to 191:
“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. You’d think my mother’d be grateful not to have to make me a white organdy dress and a big satin sash and buy me new white baby-doll shows that can’t be taken of the box till the big day. You’d think she’d be glad her daughter ain’t out there prancing around a maypole getting the new clothes all dirty and sweaty and trying to act like a fairy or flower or whatever you're supposed to be when you should be trying to be yourself, , whatever that is, which ais as far as I am concerned a , a poor Black girl who really can’t afford to buy shoes and a new dress you only wear once a lifetime cause it won’t fit next year.“
Undoubtedly, this shows that her family is struggling economically. While this does not seem to affect her it may affect her parents and family members which will later affect her. While her mother knows they will struggle to afford a new dress she still wants Squeaky to do it, this shows us that like many places in the world honor is valued over many other things which can become a problem. This quote also shows that her mother wants her to be a stereotypical girly girl-- which is the opposite of what Squeaky is. In conclusion Squeaky lives in an area where it is more important to be tough then to be smart which is why she acts in the ways she does, so that she would fit in and that she will not be bullied. We see this when she tells us how they can not afford a new dress and shoes; she also puts on this shield to make sure no one sees that she is hurting inside because they may not be in a very good economical state. Finally this may trouble her parents and that could affect Squeaky as well.
While we have come a long way since ancient times when women were considered second class citizens we still have a long way to go before men and women are not stereotyped and are truly equal in society’s eyes. Squeaky unfortunately suffered because of this issue-- so much that it strained the relationship between her and her mother. It must have been truly hard for Squeaky to have to chosen between her mother's pride and her passion-- and some days she must have asked herself: “did I make the right choice?” Her family had given her the incredibly challenging task of taking care of her mentally disabled brother which can ultimately stop her from doing things she wants to do; yet her mother still wants more from her. It is understandable for Squeaky to build a shield around her, to protect her from bullying. In the story she never tells about boys teasing her about not doing girly things; this is because of her portfolio-- that you do not want to mess with her. This shield also helps her to hide her sadness of being expected to fill someone else's shoes, the point being that they are not hers and that she does not want to pretend to be somebody else. To assure that no one will see her pain she attacks anyone else before they have the chance to attack her. In a gold mine you have to dig through many layers of dirt until you find the gold; this is like Squeaky because while she seems rude, sassy, and callous at first if you dig a little deeper you will find that she is just a little girl that is just trying to make someone proud of who she really is; and spends her life trying to prove her value not bullying her disabled brother, rather protecting him, not following society and giving a fake Squeaky, rather having a divergent set of interests then most girls, and rather then letting poverty get her down she does not let it bother her. While some may still view Squeaky as an arrogant brat she is actually a kind caring person, while life continues to knock her down Squeaky is perseverant and resilient she get back up again and always gives her 1000%.