Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu and Phoebe Robinson, through their respective books Zahrah the Windseeker and You Can’t Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain, eloquently tackle the ways their characters recognize and overcome the fear of the unknown through word choice and character development. In her book, Zahrah the Windseeker, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu does not waste any time and explicitly states in the preface that it is “a general fear of the unknown that plagues the entire society of the Ooni Kingdom” (Okorafor). Okorafor’s use of the word “plague” utilizes the negative connotation with this fear and indicates that future characters have to overcome this “plague.” Referring to “the entire society,” Okorafor also includes …show more content…
Due to the fact being dada is so rare and no one else from her hometown is dada, the townspeople fear Zahrah because they do not know or understand what it means to be dada and what separates them from normal people. As a part of the bullying, people call Zahrah names like: ‘“Vine head,” “snake lady,” “swamp witch,” and “freak”’ (Okorafor 3). Despite initially believing the vicious nicknames and allowing those words to define her, Zahrah overcomes her submission to society’s perception of her and embraces her hair, as well as her other dada qualities. In the end, after completing her quest and saving her best friend, Zahrah stands before a mirror and studies herself: “I look at myself in the mirror, my dark brown skin, my dada hair… I looked into my own eyes and smiled when I saw the new glint in them” (Okorafor 277). A “new glint” in her eyes represents a new perspective of herself; a perspective that is not defined by society’s fear of her. For Zahrah, it took going on an incredibly dangerous and nearly-impossible mission in order to accept herself and to shake people’s fear of the unknown. She now has confidence in herself and believes in herself. Similarly, Robinson deals with this same issue of facing other the fear of the unknown, however she deals with the problem in a more realistic manner. Phoebe Robinson deals with white people’s fear of her natural hair. As mentioned earlier, Robinson clearly recognizes this fear, and writes in her book, “ when something
Racism was a major issue during Ellen’s time period, and remains so today. In Ellen Foster, Gibbons uses Ellen’s experience with Starletta and other African-Americans to suggest the idea that racism can be transcended by looking at oneself before judging others. She communicates this through several elements of the story, including motifs, characters, the setting, and the overall plots.
This white fantasization begins with the comparison of the African-American woman to the white woman in countenance who have pale complexions and finer hair, which is directly contrasted with African-American women’s more curly-coiled hair and varying complexions that are darker than those who have mostly a European racial background. To achieve this
When Birdie and her sister are sent to Nkrumah, Birdie is taught to recognize and accept her “black” identity. However, her identity is problematized by her physical appearance, especially her “white” skin colour. Living in Boston, Birdie feels that she does not belong to the black community; in Nkrumah students don’t accept her for being a black girl, then she further feels isolated by her dad’s girlfriend, because she is not dark like Cole. “Others before had made me see the differences between my sister and myself – the texture of our hair, the tings of our kin, the shapes of our features. But Carmen was the one to make me feel that those things somehow mattered. To make me feel that the differences were deeper than skin,” (Senna, 1998, p.91). The students are not the only ones who make Birdie feel as if she doesn’t fit in; Carmen makes her feel as if inferior because of her lighter complexion.
Characters, in Heidi Durrow’s The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, force the protagonist, Rachel, to choose between her white and black side. They only acknowledge her black side while only celebrating her white qualities. Consequently, Rachel feels the obligation to accept the roles that have been thrust upon her and ignores part of her race because of the commentary from her family and peers. Rachel adapting to the portrayal of her racial identity to appeal to the normalized opinions of her appearance, demonstrates her tendency to comply with the categorization people of color face throughout society. Ultimately, leading Rachel to pick and choose the parts of her racial identity that most please the people she is with.
A book of horrors, fear and death. “The Plague” is a book by Albert Camus which weaves these emotions and events into one suspenseful tale. Each paragraph and section is written and structured in such a way as to give the reader insight into the feelings of the victims of the plague, and to show somewhat of a theme. The passage from section 4, part 4, line number 1 to line number 35 gives us a glimpse of the melancholy of the people of Oran to their dead loved ones to the extent that they do not attend All Souls' Day, for they were thinking of them too much as it was. Albert Camus fills this passage with figurative devices, including, diction, personification, pathetic fallacy, metaphors, irony and a turning point. The first two paragraphs
One who encounters phobias has to deal with a collection of uncontrollable symptoms when their
It has always been assumed that races have a certain look; a person can always tell what a person is by their mannerisms, their speech and the overall way they carried themselves even if they looked a certain way. However, this is mainly due to stereotypes that have long plagued our society and what one “expects” someone to look like just based on the negative connotations that are associated with skin complexion. When we read certain literature, the description of the character is the first thing that we look for as it is a way for us to somewhat bond with the character and attempt to see the story through their eyes. Toni Morrison’s Recitatif explores how the author describes each character not expressing their race leaving a bit of mysery to the reader and attempts to breaks down the stereotypes that exist for each race. Through a literary analysis, the reader is able to see those stereotypical assumptions about the color of one’s skin and how they should cease to exist in any world whether it is literal or figurative.
Lord of the Flies also shows about fearing the unknown is that fear only impacts you as much as you allow it to. In the book, Piggy tells the other boys that, “So this is a meeting to find out what’s what...can’t hurt you anymore than a dream,” (Golding 82). Piggy’s message shows that he has realized the fear of the unknown can only affect him if he allows it to and once he gets over it; he can start accomplishing his goals like getting off the island.
In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, it carries a very common theme; fear is destructive and can provoke the most daunting actions. Okonkwo and his village went through a bunch of disasters and events because they feared a lot of stuff. Okonkwo was driven to madness by fear and most of his actions were driven by fear.
One of the things we fear the most is the loss of or lack of control. Even if we really don’t have control, we like to think we do, and when we lose that sense of control, fear rushes in. For example, an alcoholic will say " I can quit any time; I’m in control." The fear comes when he realizes for the first time that he is an alcoholic and that he is not in control. We all fear uncertainty and the unknown. We arm ourselves against it with candles in the dark, or faith against the uncertainty of death. Then, when we think we’ve conquered our fear, it comes invading our minds again, let in by a smell or a taste, a sound or a thought Fear is always there, just waiting right under the surface, to awaken those memories which frighten us the most.
She is also a very determined to be right and will do whatever it takes to be right like for example, when Jay and her were arguing about whether he is a racist or not, she never let her guard down. When Zana was talking to Jay she said, “Big football star can’t remember the little people along the way” (Ellis and Walters 188). Zana is saying that he can’t remember his non popular friends and should not just think about his football friends, but think about others too. Zana helps Jay a lot to realize who he wants to be and if he wants to be a dead fish (follower) or not. Zana promotes tolerance in
McLaurin caught interest in a girl named Charlotte Humphries who had been a schoolmate of his since the first grade. Blue eyes, blonde hair, having the complexion of a white girl, he was impressed and did not think pursuing wanting to date her would be a problem. However, regardless of his feelings, his mother disagreed and insisted that Charlotte would not be a good idea for him. McLaurin’s grandmother began to explain to him that he “just shouldn’t” pursue her, mentioning that the story behind it all goes back a long time ago. She explained that Charlotte’s great-grandmother was someone who was a “mulatto nigra”. Some mulattos pass as white, even though they are not, if they are light enough and that is what happened with Charlotte’s great-grandmother. Even though Charlotte was blue eyed blond hair, McLaurin could not pursue her simply because black ancestry was in her blood.
Much attention is given to the issue of the perfect body image among young girls and women in the United States; however, within this set of people, little attention is given towards black women and the topic of their hair. How are black women affected by these unrealistic standards for beauty, especially in a world that tends to favor the Eurocentric standards? This study discusses the phenomenon behind black women and their hairstyles and explains that their choice in hairstyle is not solely reliant on societal expectations, but also equally of their own personality, self-esteem, and time.
Fear can cause our thinking processes to be distorted and irrational. It may create negative anticipation of things to come. It could cause excessive worrying of what others think or a fear of God’s wrath (Nichols, 2010). Fear sometimes makes the emotions of the individual get out of control with anger, anxiety, depression, and worrying (Nichols, 2010). In the book, all of these emotions are addressed and insight is given to help overcome them. It is important to do the necessary hard work to untie these knots in order to bring a person back to a healthy emotional state of mind. If the fear is not dealt with properly, it can also lead to negative physiological changes to the body as the immune system is weakened
Through the years they grew into an overreaching symbol of fear”. We can see that these early experiences as a child had caused a sense of fear and caution of the white community within the narrator.