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Analysis Of The Movie ' Open City '

Decent Essays

The Role of Discrimination in Open City In the novel Open City by Teju Cole, the main character Julius is a multiracial man. Throughout the novel, it became evident that one of his flaws was that he seemed to have a problem forming relationships with others. The main reason for this was because of the abundance of discrimination in the world. Many individuals judge one another based on their race, religion, ethnicities, etc. Julius’s thoughts and actions show the extremely negative impact that judging others can have on people. The main character encounters many different people throughout the novel. For example, Julius sees two small white children at the train station on his way home from the movies one day. The children voiced their opinion on him while also trying to directly interact with him by saying, “He’s black, said the girl, but he’s not dressed as a gangster. Hey mister, are you a gangster? I bet he’s a gangster, her brother said” (Cole 32). Although, Julius seemed to brush this off and pretend it didn’t hurt him, it’s evident that he was uncomfortable with what was going on. It is obvious that others around him see him as a black man and not just as a normal person. We see the uncomfortable situation described further when he commented, “They continued flicking their fingers at me for several minutes. Twenty yards away, their parents talked with each other, oblivious” (Cole 32). He questions his identity because others act like they know everything about him

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