Everybody’s lives can be affected by a single story. A single story is when somebody is stereotyped, which at times is dangerous. The book The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater tells the story of two teens named Sasha and Richard. While riding the 57 bus home one day, Richard set Sasha’s skirt on fire. In the book The 57 Bus, Dashka Slater uses symbolism to portray a single story. In the book, Slater describes Sasha’s environment in a way that subjects them to a single story. In the fifth chapter, Slater describes Maybeck High School. She says, “In the tiny classrooms, students gathered around conference tables and critiqued the concept of America as a shining city on a hill, or compared the writings of Charles Darwin and Ursula K. Le Guin” (Slater 18). …show more content…
This puts Sasha in the stereotype, or single story, that people at Maybeck think much differently than others. This can single out and alienate students from the outside world. In The 57 Bus, Slater also subjects Richard to a single story of violence, drugs, and poverty through symbolism. When describing the futures of students at Oakland High School (the school Richard attended), Slater says that the students go “... into a future as hazy as weed smoke” (Slater 65). In the quote, Dashka uses weed smoke as a symbol for the future of students at Oakland High School. The symbolism of weed smoke puts Richard into a stereotype of crime and drugs because of his upbringing, unlike Sasha, who was made to seem more “educated”. This restates his single story. Just because there’s weed, doesn’t mean students at Oakland High are any less educated than other schools. This could cause him problems with future peers and jobs. Slater also uses symbolism to subject Jasmine to a single story. When describing Jasmine, Slater says “Jasmine had always hoped to continue her