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Essay on a Matter of Taste

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In the short story “A Matter of Taste” by Alex La Guma, several political issues are addressed. Race, socioeconomic status, education and experience, are all factors that are somehow brought up throughout this story. The thing that stands out the most, and really brings all of these factors together, is the idea that “more is left unsaid than said.” More is left unsaid than said; what does the statement really mean? To begin with, this idea is the theme to the structure of a lot of fictional writing, including this story. A good author is one who doesn’t have to say or spell out what he wants the reader to know. With description and detail, one should be given the opportunity in reading a story to imagine and infer what happened. One …show more content…

On page 77, Whitey says, “Hell, it’s all a matter of taste. Some people like chicken and other’s eat sheep’s heads and beans!” Chinaboy responds by saying, “A matter of taste, bull, it’s a matter of money, pal. I worked six months in that caffy and I never heard nobody order sheep’s head and beans!” Chinaboy is saying that it is not a matter of taste in what kind of food you prefer, but in what kind of food you can afford. Nobody who can afford to eat well is going to order the plain, basic kind of food that these men are probably used to eating. The audience can see that Chinaboy is aware of the reality of the level of poverty that he lives in, while Whitey is still somewhat naive and inexperienced. While he may know that he is poor, he isn’t seeing the bigger picture that Chinaboy is talking about. Not only are these people in the “caffy” much wealthier than the characters, but they have a completely different mindset, which seems to be more of what Chinaboy is referring to throughout the story. As the men’s conversation continues, Whitey tells another story on page 77 that adds a lot of meaning to this story. “He sits down at a table and takes out a packet of sandwiches and puts it down. Then he calls the waiter and orders a glass of water. When the waiter brings the water, this fellow says: ‘Why ain’t the band playing?’” A lot more is left unsaid than said here. The fact that this man came into a restaurant with his own food, and proceeded to order nothing

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