Analyse af 'So What Are You, Anyway?'

LAUNDRY IS THE ONLY THING THAT SHOULD BE SEPERATED BY COLOUR

Analysis of So What Are You, Anyway?

Nowadays, the majority of the world are very open-minded in terms of political orientation and racial differences of others. Looking back to the 1960's, the opposing point of view ruled. The tough implications of being a social outcast due to skin colour is brought to light in the short story: “So what are you, anyway?”, which was written in 1992 by Lawrence Hill.

The story takes off in a plane, which is leaving the Toronto airport. The protagonist, Carole, is a freckled, mulatto child, who has brought her doll, Amy, to keep her company on the flight. Despite of Amy’s comfort, Carole is instantly met by an adverse atmosphere, as she sits beside of the married couple, Henry and Betty Norton in Seat 12A. For instance, when they ask her to name the colour of the pencil she would make use of to colour her parents – it becomes clear that the Nortons are judgmental of her skin colour. Carole is stuck in an uncomfortable situation, due to the disrespectful comments from the Nortons, with no possibility of escaping.

Without a doubt, the Nortons can be described as invasive, straight forward, and provoking racists, who are everything but afraid to express rude comments that are uncalled for. To put it in an example, Betty says, “It’s not fair to children. I don’t mind them mixed, but the world isn’t ready for it. They’re neither one thing nor the other, Henry.” (page 1, ending). Betty claims that she isn’t against socalled “mixed skin colour” although she clearly is – but on top of that she even claims that “the world isn’t ready for it”, speaking of the whole Earth’s behalf.