Humanity has a long running problem with discrimination. Even the word itself instills a sense of dread in those who have been victim to this vicious human tendency. In Liliana Heckers, “The stolen party” discrimination is a major theme that can be seen throughout the story. The main character, Rosaura, constantly worries how she will find acceptance in her friend Luciana’s party. This is because she is the daughter of the house cleaner who works for Luciana’s family. Rosaura thoroughly enjoys herself at the party, until at the end she obtains money instead of a party bag like the rest of the kids in Luciana’s party. This caused a sense of dread in Rosaura, and an unfortunate awareness of her position in life much like Mary in her own story. …show more content…
In Grace Hu’s “Snow White” Mary, the protagonist, is discriminated against on a on a daily basis. This is thanks to her skin disease, which causes her skin to look excessively albino. Her singular best friend Karen one day invites Mary to a party. She is hesitant to go due to her skin condition and general lack of knowledge regarding how to deal with people. She does eventually go and enjoys herself, but in the end, a boy attacks her psychologically who wears an outfit that mimics her appearance. Both Mary Rosaura experience discrimination, and as a result they become much more aware of how others perceive them. Mary and Rosaura suffer discrimination at all times in this story, especially Mary who is in constant distress due to the color of her skin. Throughout the short story, she is constantly berating herself and believing that the world is against her because of her skin disease. Many instances in the story validate her concern about other people’s opinion of her. However, one particular part in the story reveals all of the fears she has about herself in a few quick moments. As a result, when a drunken boy enters her friend, Karen’s house, Mary notices that the boy is dressed up as her for the party, “At midnight there was a sudden uproar of laughter and commotion at the door. In came a boy I faintly recognized, with a face painted white, with an equally white shoulder length wig on his head…’Hey toss me another miller lite,’ he said to his friend behind him. ‘You mean a miller white?’ His friend answered, laughing heartily, stumbling over his words… Hot tears rushed fiercely to my eyes as I pushed through the crowd and out the door.”(Hu 3). Clearly, Mary is discriminated against during this exchange in many obvious ways.
The drunken boy Mary faintly recognized painted his face white and wore a white wig. This inspiring costume is undoubtedly based off Mary and her skin condition. This is particularly telling when she barely recognized the boy but he knew all about her. Throughout the story, Mary never once mentions this boy and never signifies that he is important in her life. A boy she barely knows walks into her best friend’s party and belittles her because she is different from the rest of them. To keep the joke going the boys friend even comments, “You mean a miller white?” after his friend asks him for a miller lite. Another boy she is unfamiliar with is blatantly mean to her because of her skin condition. Mary did learn something from this unfortunate incident, which would lead her to be happier with herself and her predicament. Furthermore, when Karen came over to cheer Mary up, she asks Mary if they can go to downtown to buy her a wig, “‘want to go downtown anyway and scare all the salesladies?’ She asked. ‘Sure’ I answered and smiled as I grabbed my old baseball cap. Like I said one friend is really all you need.”(Hu 5). Mary learnt that she really only needed one good friend rather than being overly popular and having a bunch of shallow ones. Mary’s inner monologue, “Like I said all you need is one friend” proves the point that Mary became grateful for the things she has rather than the things she …show more content…
thought she required. (i.e. more friends, and acceptance into normal society). Through this experience Mary became much more aware of her standing amongst her peers, much like Rosaura and her experience with discrimination. Rosaura faces a specials sort of discrimination that is not all too different from Mary’s type of discrimination. Rosaura is a child who is naive to the ways of the world. She does not wish to believe that the world she lives in due to her mother’s income, affects the way she is perceived by others. She is forced to become aware of the reality she inhabits because of how she is treated in the end. Therefore, when Senora Ines is preparing to hand Rosaura her present, she tells her that she was a good girl and hands her two bills, “Senora Ines didn’t look in the pink bag. Nor did she look in the blue bag. Instead she rummaged in her purse. In her hand appeared two bills.”(Hecker 5). Obviously, this is very disheartening for Rosaura who wants to be an equal to all the other kids. “In her hand appeared two bills”, all Rosaura wanted was to be a part of the people she thought her equal. Every one of the other “rich kids” obtained a toy from either the blue bag or the pink bag. Rosaura is singled out due to her affiliation with the mansions maid (her mother), and the belief by the upper class that Rosaura’s attendance is due to the money they would give her. Rosaura is shaken by this sudden realization, but begins to come to grip with how her world functions. Afterward, when Senora Ines offers Mary two bills in Luciana’s house, Mary conveys to Senora Ines and the reader the message that she is displeased by her substitution gift, “Rosaura felt her arm stiffen, stick close to her body, and she noticed her mother’s hand on her shoulder.
Instinctively, she pressed herself against her mother’s body. That was all except for her eyes. Rosaura’s eyes had a cold, clear look that fixed itself on Senora Ines face.”(Hecker
5). Evidently, Rosaura gained an unfortunate understanding of the world she lives in. “Rosaura’s eyes held a cold, clear look that fixed itself on Senora Ines face.” This represents the loss of innocence for Rosaura. Throughout the story she is fixated with the idea that she is on equal terms in respect to the upper class children. Both Mary and Rosaura by the end of their respective stories have been given better lenses in which to see the world. They both experience tremendous amounts of humiliation and horror as the world they once knew and believed in is flipped on its head. Both Mary and Rosaura come to grips with the reality that is discrimination and are now stronger for it.
The Party is Over by Mike Lofgren goes undercover to reveal what politics is like behind the screen. I believe this book was more for criticizing the GOP and Republicans that the Democrats. The GOP and Republicans are a lot different in politics now than they were decades ago. The book talks about how the Republicans are against the government, how Republicans are anti-science and anti-intellectual, and also how they view religious rights. All of these lead to problems with politics. The Democrats were brought up than the Republicans, but were still mentioned. They too did some damage in today’s politics. This book informs us on how the Republicans went crazy and Democrats became useless, and how it’s become a problem.
In her short story, "The Birthday Party", Katharine Brush depicts the cruelty that many people in this world so curtly reveal. Through her use of imagery, diction, and point of view she is able to send this message across to her audience.
And readers are thus exposed to the exploitation and extortion that goes on in this cycle of sympathizers. While the gathering of the women is supposed to be a period of preparing the widows for their confinement, it turns to a period of financial exploitation of the widows. Ramatoulaye succinctly expresses her displeasure,
Ruth is a black slave employed by white loyalists, along with her sister, Isabel. When Ruth does not understand why they face social injustice, she turns to her sister to help her. Ruth laughs at her master, which is prohibited. Ruth’s master, Madam, then turns to beat Ruth, but instead Isabel takes the beating, “Craaack! Lightning struck from a blue sky; Madam slapped my face so hard it near threw me to the ground” (Anderson 33). When Ruth laughs at her master, her master gets extremely upset. Ruth turns to Isabel out of confusion and the master beats Isabel instead, who willingly takes the blame for her loved one. The only reason that her master can beat the girls is because they are black. This is socially unjust because Ruth and Isabel are being discriminated against just because of their race. Furthermore, when Ruth has a seizure, as she is doing chores for her master, her master comes to the conclusion that she is possessed and starts to beat her. Ruth turns to Isabel, and Isabel reacts by protecting her, “I threw myself on top of my sister. The broom came down on my back, once, twice, but it didn’t matter. I had to keep her safe until the storm passed” (Anderson 94). Ruth looks to her sister, Isabel, during times of social injustice. This is because her master is allowed to beat Ruth just because she is black, which is unjust. Isabel
The theme that has been attached to this story is directly relevant to it as depicted by the anonymous letters which the main character is busy writing secretly based on gossip and distributing them to the different houses. Considering that people have an impression of her being a good woman who is quiet and peaceful, it becomes completely unbecoming that she instead engages in very abnormal behavior. What makes it even more terrible is the fact that she uses gossip as the premise for her to propagate her hate messages not only in a single household but across the many different households in the estate where she stays.
The mother from “Tuesday Siesta” just lost her son and had gone with her daughter to the priest’s house to go visit her son’s grave… ““He’s the thief who was killed here last week”, said the woman in the same tone voice, “I am his mother”” (Marquez 374). He was a thief and was killed by an old widow, named Rebecca, who was terrified and fired gun shots when she heard someone in the front of her house. She accepts the fact that he was a thief because it pains her less than when he was a boxer. The mother from the other story, “The Stolen Party” is also confronted by a difficult situation. Rosaura’s mother was concerned that her daughter would be used/treated as a maid, instead of being treated like every other guest. Her daughter is separated from the rest of the people at the party because she is not as wealthy and she is only the maid’s daughter. Rosaura being an ignorant child, refused to believe this at the beginning of the story and throughout the party. She finally comes to the realization that she cannot break through class stereotypes. “In her hand appeared two bills. You really and truly earned this, she said handing them over. Thank you for all your help” (Heker 32). The harsh reality is exposed to Rosaura when Luciana’s mother hands her money to thank her for all her help during the
This quote was used to show how Mary Anne was starting to act grim and unusual. Also, this quote showed how different she speaks to her boyfriend and the ways she even finds her joy in everything that was and is different.
Because of the laws against colored people, Rosaleen, as a black woman, lives with constraints in her life. For example, she cannot live in a house with white people (Kidd, p.8), she cannot represent Lily at the charm school (Kidd, p.19), or even travel in a car with white people (Kidd, p.76). The media is also influenced by racism, and constantly shows news about segregation such as the case of Martin Luther King, who is arrested because he wants to eat in a restaurant (Kidd, p.35), the “man in Mississippi was killed for registering to vote” (Kidd, p.44), and the motel in Jackson, that closes, because the owners don’t want to rent rooms to black people (Kidd, p.99).... ... middle of paper ...
Nor did she look in the blue bag. Instead she rummaged in her purse. In her hand appeared two bills. "You really and truly, earned this," she said handing them over. "Thank you for all your help, my pet." Rosaura felt her arms stiffen, stick close to her body, and then she noticed her mother 's hand on her shoulder. Instinctively she pressed herself against her mother 's body. That was all. Except her eyes. Rosaura 's eyes had a cold, clear look that fixed itself on Senora Ines 's face. Senora Ines, motionless, stood there with her hand outstretched. As if she didn 't dare draw it back. As if the slightest change might shatter an infinitely delicate
The topic of my book is about The Donner Party, a group of families who decided to leave their everything they had behind in Springfield, Illinois and migrate to California. Marian Calabro, the author of the book, is a writer, editor, and history enthusiast. Calabro also received her B.A. from Rutgers College, with an English major and theater minor, she had become the first woman to be admitted into what was an all-male college 206 years. I chose this book because I knew that The Donner Party did eventually resort to cannibalism and thought it might be interesting to learn more about what harsh conditions drove them to do so. The Donner Party is a group of three extended families, organized by George Donner and James Reed. In the book, Calabro
The female characters are from various social classes and each of them has her own attitudes towards life and love. Lily, the caretaker's daughter is the first character to be introduced to us. In the story she is a representative from the labouring class. Comparily, Gabriel is a well-educated young man who seems to have a bright future. When he arrogantly greets her, "I suppose we'll be going to your wedding one of these fine days with your young man, eh?" (Joyce 123). The girl answers bitterly "The men that is now is only all palaver and what they can get out of you" (124). Then Gabriel "color" as if he has made a mistake when Lily becomes upset about the subject of men. This is because he never expects his self-conceited good intention will hurt her feelings so much. Instead of comforting Lily, he "without looking at her", kicks off his goloshes and flicks actively with his muffler at his patent-leather shoes. From this we can see he first chooes to avoid difficulty when the conflict between he and the ...
She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked safe with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead.
In life, everyone has had a moment where they were naive. In “The Stolen Party,” Liliana Hekker’s character, Rosaura, is naive to the fact that she is not a member of the party. She believes that Luciana is her friend and invited her to the party. While the people of higher class, which are actual invitees, don’t believe in Luciana and Rosaura’s friendship. In the fiction, Hekker uses symbolism to represent Rosaura’s boundaries and life. Hekker uses symbolism to represent Rosaura’s boundaries. An example of this is Rosaura’s mother representing the hypothetical wall that blocks Rosaura. Although the author uses symbolism to represent Rosaura’s life and boundaries, some conclude that foreshadowing is the superior author’s craft. The author uses foreshadowing to create suspense, such as when Senora Ines hands out the party favors. Symbolism is not strictly used to represent Rosaura’s boundaries; it is also used to represent Rosaura. During the narrative, the magician’s monkey symbolizes Rosaura because like the monkey, Rosaura happily does what she’s told without questioning it. In the story, Hekker focused deeply on symbolism to represent Rosaura’s life and boundaries.
For Mary Ann, it seemed it affected her with social relationships. Although she had a strange relationship with her siblings and attended school, she avoided to interact and engage with others. During one occasion, Lillian restricted Mary Ann to the house as punishment for a stunt she had pulled; which, was not even effective considering she never went anywhere. Along with a lack of social relationships, she also felt self-conscious about her appearance as well. She wore black thick glasses that did not compliment her facial features and loose-fitting clothing to hide her slightly overweight body. Not only did the big clothing hide her body frame, but it was also meant to avoid drawing attention towards her large breasts as well.