Deadly Unna? By Phillip Gwynne is a novel based on the fictional one year life of a fourteen year old boy named Gary 'Blacky ' Black. The story shows a developing friendship between Gary, an Anglo-Saxon boy and Dumby Red, an Aboriginal boy. With this friendship Gary begins to understand his own morality with lessons of human dignity, racism, justice, death, courage, family and most importantly friendship. The story is structured around AFL and shows how sport can bring a divided community together every winter.…
The worst thing to be called in the port is a gutless wonder or a slack moll for girls.…
From the first, the narrator, Blacky informs the reader that there are two groups who play the game of AFL; the Nungas (Aborigines) who come from the Peninsula and the Goonyas (white people) are Port residents. The game of AFL is the only means through which two groups are brought together and highlights the marginalisation of the Nunga community who,…
Violence, poverty, and overcoming adversity as an Indian who grow up in a reservation and goes to a school 22 miles away from the reservation. This story is about a 14 year old boy who was born with too much hydrocephalus. Junior grow up on a reservation in Wellpinit. Junior has been beat up, made fun of, and has been even called a traitor because he left the reservation to go to a white school called Rearden high school outside of the rez. Even at Rearden junior was bullied because he was an Indian and the people at Rearden considered him dangerous so they verbally made fun of him. Junior has learned a lot throughout the novel like: standing up for himself, and that the people in the rez have given up, and that if you let people in to your…
Lindsey Parker Parker 1 Mrs. Brawner Honors English II August 12, 2014 Overcoming Poverty to Rise to the Top Mark Mathabane touched the hearts of millions by telling his true, unaltered, raw experiences of living and coming to age in the apartheid in South Africa in his award winning autobiography, Kaffir Boy. Mark grew up in poverty and the cruelty that was ever present in the streets of South African ghettos, especially the most desperate and poor of them all in Alexandra, where gangs would fight and recruit and where police raids were like a normal every day routine. Mark faced life in a different light than most people do in this day and age. Mark is a very rounded and dynamic character who fluctuates throughout the book. The black people of South Africa in the apartheid viewed whites as “supreme” because they held all authority and regulated every move they made, but Mark decided to try and overcome this “supremacy” by deciding to make a better life for himself.…
The issue of racism is thoroughly expored throughout Gwynne’s novel. Gary Black – ironically nicknamed ‘Blacky’ - the narrator of the text and the main character in the story defies the unwritten rules of the Port when he befriends a ‘Nunga’ who has joined his football team. The Nunga, named Dumby Red, makes Blacky question his personal beliefs about his attitude towards aboriginals when he finds himself starting to like Dumby. Blacky fails to admit this though, as he has been brought up to disrespect aboriginals. “So I stopped hating Dumby’s guts. Except I still acted like I did. I was used to it, I suppose. It was easier to stay like that”. (p. 26) Blacky’s resistance to admit to his true feelings about his relationship with Dumby illustrates the pressures of conformity that were bestowed upon the white youth in the novel. Racial discrimination is another issue raised in the novel. Written in graffiti inside the shed on the jetty is a statement demeaning aboriginals, which has not been removed like all other graffiti, highlighting the fact that the statement does not offend any member of the Caucasian public. “‘BOONGS PISS OFF’ it said. It was written in enormous block letters...If you wrote something like ‘MONICA IS A SLUT’ then it wouldn’t last very long, maybe a week, but ‘BOONGS PISS OFF’ had been there for ages”. (p. 121) The issue of racism is raised by the presence of this graffiti and persuades the youth of the Port to disrespect indigenous Australians. Through the exploration of themes such as individuality, standing up for your beliefs and racial discrimination, racism has been…
1. Describe the impression you form of Gary Black (Blacky) in the first 4 to 5 chapters of the novel.…
When opposed with adversity, that is when someone’s true colors show. Roald Dahl’s “Poison” relays this idea into his work when the main character is conflicted with a snake being on his chest. Instead of reacting in fear, as one may have thought, he reacts with hatred and racism that has previously been embedded within his nature. Knowing this, and a study of characters, conflict, and title analysis, the readers of “Poison” by Roald Dahl, can discover the ambiguous ending to actually be a pointed discussion of the poison racism is to mankind.…
The subjugation of the women to this black matriarchy leads them to develop diminutive social spheres the author likes to refer to as “safe spaces.”…
Kaffir Boy: The True Story Of A Black Youth’s Coming Of Age In Apartheid South Africa is the autobiography of Mark Mathabane. This autobiography has become a best seller because of the intense and strong images of violence that it projects. This autobiography allowed people all over the world to view the life under apartheid through the lens of a true South African black. This autobiography is important to American literature and especially to this black lit class because it offers a world never seen before, that is what makes it so interesting. Americans, especially whites, are always fascinated with the struggles blacks go through to overcome violence and racism. This book has a similar tone to that of Frederick Douglass’ narrative in the way that it made Americans think about the violence that is witnessed and the cruel unjust life they led because unfortunately, they were born under that society. This is important, because this autobiography shows how the segregation in South Africa was justified and it also opened eyes to the true meaning behind the apartheid and the unspoken conditions of it. The title of this book is also important. Mathabane is smart in choosing “Kaffir Boy” as the description of how he takes the word ‘Kaffir’ and not of how much power that word holds over him. He explains that the word ‘Kaffir’ is equivalent to the word ‘nigger’ in America, but it is so interesting how he uses a derogatory word to give the name to his autobiography. It is clear that Mathabane is trying to own the word ‘Kaffir’ by using it and redefining it. This is interesting because this has also happened in the United Sates. Kaffir is a degrading term for blacks in South Africa, and in America the term nigger was also a degrading term for blacks. Although, today many blacks use the term ‘nigga’ to describe themselves, and often give it the meaning ‘brother’. This is similar to the way the gay community has used the word gay to describe themselves. It no longer has a…
“Maniac Magee” by Jerry Spinelli is a novel that introduces the human rights violation of racism to children in elementary schools. Published in the 1990s, Spinelli decided to focus on an issue that was not widely discussed within the school systems and chose to inform fifth graders about segregation and the effect this can have on a person’s moral character. Within the novel a prominent theme of a sense of belonging is shown. Through the struggle of finding a home and his fluidity between the segregated sides of the city, Maniac Magee serves as a symbol of where to belong, whether it be with race or of finding oneself as a child. Through the issues of race that arise, Spinelli successfully gives the message to children of being true to oneself and the place that they make for themselves in the world, even if it is against the cultural norms.…
The story of this novel takes place in a town Kyauktada, Burma. The plot and theme of the novel is surrounded by exclusivity of the European Club to white members only. Membership of this club…
In modern day society, people look down upon the existence of racism itself. During the 19th century, when Dalene Matthee’s novel Fiela’s Child takes place, the perspective of racism diverged downward. During this era, there was still been a division between the two races, Africans and Caucasians. Benjamin, one of the main characters in Fiela’s Child, experiences both superior Caucasian power and contemptuous African power. In an article, “Corruption Pervades Poverty: In Perspective of Developing Countries” the authors explain why racism and discrimination in the 19th century were wrong. This article details economic inequalities and the injustice experienced by black Africans (Javaid and Faruq). An article titled, “mission: the racialized consequences of…
His use of satire raises the question of unintentional racism and internalized white supremacy, while his questioning of the reader challenges the sources of racism in any “racist” situation. Since Alexie is neither black nor white, his outsider observations allow for a credible, unbiased observation of the interactions of blacks and whites. All in all, “Gentrification” provides the reader with thoughts and questions which may inspire them to further explore ideas about…
Callum McGregor is one of the main characters in the novel Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman. It is an action packed novel based on a society that has been practicing segregation for decades. The novel is set in a fictional country called Pangaea during the 21st century. Callum deals with many issues including relationships, friendships, violence, alcohol abuse and depression. However, the main issues he has to deal with are prejudice and racism. This essay will reveal Callum’s complicated and unlucky character as well as saying the changes he has been through.…