Discuss the ways in which Nadine Gordimer and Mildred Taylor portray racism in their stories, " Country Lovers," and, " The Gold Cadillac."

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              Discuss the ways in which Nadine Gordimer and Mildred Taylor portray racism in their stories, “ Country Lovers,” and, “ The Gold Cadillac.”

              In the short stories “The Gold Cadillac” by Mildred Taylor and “Country Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer we see the effects of racism in a community. In “The Gold Cadillac” we see the portrayal of racism even in the police force and how peoples lives are put in danger just because a black man is driving an expensive car. In “ Country Lovers” we see how racism causes the murder of a small and innocent child.

 

              In the story “ Country Lovers” it is made clear from the outset of the story that there is racism in the community. One indication of this is that the white and black children initially play together. However, this changes very quickly; once the white children go away to school, they soon don’t play together any more, even in the holidays. Racism develops because when the white children go off to school they are influenced by different racist ideas and become more aware of the laws and expectations that black and white people do not have personal relationships. It is also shown within the story that the white children go off to schools to get a good education whilst the black students receive very little education; “ … they drop every year farther behind the grades passed by the white students.” By the age of twelve or thirteen the black children know that their former friends are now their masters calling them; “misuse and bassie”.

              Unlike “ Country Lovers”, in “ The Gold Cadillac” it appears at first that black people and white people share equal rights. In fact it is not immediately obvious that this is a black family.  In the story black people can do things such as buying houses and cars: “ Let’s take ourselves a ride in our brand new Cadillac.” As Wilbert can splash out on a golden Cadillac, this indicates that he may have a well-paid job. At first the dispute between the mother and the father in the story seems to be about how the husband has wasted the money they were saving towards a house in a better and safer neighbourhood on an expensive car.  This is shown in the argument between Dee and her husband when Dee says “ But you said you wanted a house in a better neighbourhood” then she continues to say that by buying the new Cadillac they will not be able to afford a new house.

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              In “The Golden Cadillac” the story is told through the eyes of a young girl, Lois. When her father initially starts talking about driving the gold Cadillac South to Mississippi, and her uncles and aunts tell her father it is too dangerous, she does not understand. The reason for the fears expressed by people become more clear on their journey and Lois is perplexed when she sees signs saying whites only: “ I couldn’t understand why the signs were there”.  However, after the police stop the family and her father is arrested, ...

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