Author's Note- This is a text analysis piece that is also a District Writing Assessment. I am really working hard to get a great score on everything and I am especially working on introductions since that is one of my goals. I will try to get this out about a week before my conference so please read this to look over and tell me in the comments or in person to improve anything.
As the boys, just coming in the door, are greeted by Johnny's mother they notice a slight off setting. Boyd, Johnny's friend, is being stared down by Mrs. Wilson as Johnny asks if everything is okay. She notices one thing that sticks out like a flamingo that has found its way to the swamps of Louisiana. Boyd is negro. In the short story "After You, My Dear Alphonse," a women named Mrs. Wilson, can't handle Johnny's friend and because of her strange actions that can not be taken back, the boys have a little fun with it.
As much as Mrs. Wilson tries to cover up being unintentionally racist, she fails every time. She tries to convince herself that since her son's friend is black, he has a poor family. She soon finds out that it is not true and tries to cover it up. Like in the story when she said, "He certainly has to be strong to do that - all that lifting and carrying at a factory." It turned out that he was a foreman but she assumed that he did the dirty work since negro people used to do the hard labor when they were slaves. She is curious to what kind of lifestyle this negro boy goes through and to make it easier on her part for making conversation. She assumes to much with to little information. When she was proved wrong by her own son "[She] felt defeated" as if she just wanted to be right but assumed to much. She has been grown up in a society where black people are treated like dirt, and the white people think they can be as useful as dirt. This happens just a bit differently in our society, but with the same overconfidence of what you think people are.
Although Mrs. Wilson was "defeated" and felt stupid, there are other stereotypes around modern society that sometimes have much more of an effect on people as you think they would. These stereotypes are somewhat similar to Pewaukee because if someone from outside the MidWest came to Wisconsin, they would think there are going to be cows and cheese factories all over the place. Again they assume to much with to little information. Just like the mom in the story they walk in to situations where they don't know what they are talking about, but assume they are right. If someone from outside the southeastern part of Wisconsin came to Pewaukee they would think that all of us are rich and spoiled. I actually agree with that although it is not 100% true, the rumor is not effected by all people even though it is just over half of the families. This is similar to Mrs. Wilson because when she found out Boyd was black, she transferred more stereotypes to his mother and father, but was still incorrect because she thought if one person looks different they are different even if you have never seen them or heard of them.
This story reminds me of a book called, I Never Had It Made, an autobiography by Jackie Robinson. He was a black baseball player that was playing ball in the Negro League when the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers took him to the National Baseball League for white people. He faced criticism and death threats that he had to deal with and overcome through his baseball career. When he went to stadiums to play baseball, the white people would shout racist comments that weren't true about his race. Jackie Robinson could symbolize the boys in this story trying to defend themselves by showing Mrs. Wilson what Boyd's background really is. The fans in the stadiums and the critics would symbolize Mrs. Wilson that wanted to be right to find out if the stereotypes she heard were true. Both Robinson and the boys succeeded in proving everyone wrong by showing that they could stand their ground to get rid of the rumors and stereotypes weighing down their ethnic group.
I believe that Shirley Jackson is trying to teach us the importance of not being prejudice. The mom in the story has grown up in the society where she heard only people saying hurtful things to different colored people was natural. She thought because he was black that he had no where to go and his dad was a factory worker that lifted heavy objects on a daily basis making him built and strong. But since she was prejudice, she got burned by her own son and his friend. What Mrs. Jackson wants us to take away from this passage is that we should get to know people before we can judge them.
The world is a cruel place, especially when you have people that are judging other people before they even get to know them. Shirley Jackson really wanted to show us how many times we can be proven wrong by just assuming things. Mrs. Wilson learned a lesson to "not judge a book (or person) by its cover." Jackie Robinson did with his baseball career and Boyd did it with the facts and background of his family. All of the problems were forced on by critics coming up with stereotypes to make someone look bad the way they are not meant to be looked at.
The Cruel World of Different People
As the boys, just coming in the door, are greeted by Johnny's mother they notice a slight off setting. Boyd, Johnny's friend, is being stared down by Mrs. Wilson as Johnny asks if everything is okay. She notices one thing that sticks out like a flamingo that has found its way to the swamps of Louisiana. Boyd is negro. In the short story "After You, My Dear Alphonse," a women named Mrs. Wilson, can't handle Johnny's friend and because of her strange actions that can not be taken back, the boys have a little fun with it.
As much as Mrs. Wilson tries to cover up being unintentionally racist, she fails every time. She tries to convince herself that since her son's friend is black, he has a poor family. She soon finds out that it is not true and tries to cover it up. Like in the story when she said, "He certainly has to be strong to do that - all that lifting and carrying at a factory." It turned out that he was a foreman but she assumed that he did the dirty work since negro people used to do the hard labor when they were slaves. She is curious to what kind of lifestyle this negro boy goes through and to make it easier on her part for making conversation. She assumes to much with to little information. When she was proved wrong by her own son "[She] felt defeated" as if she just wanted to be right but assumed to much. She has been grown up in a society where black people are treated like dirt, and the white people think they can be as useful as dirt. This happens just a bit differently in our society, but with the same overconfidence of what you think people are.
Although Mrs. Wilson was "defeated" and felt stupid, there are other stereotypes around modern society that sometimes have much more of an effect on people as you think they would. These stereotypes are somewhat similar to Pewaukee because if someone from outside the MidWest came to Wisconsin, they would think there are going to be cows and cheese factories all over the place. Again they assume to much with to little information. Just like the mom in the story they walk in to situations where they don't know what they are talking about, but assume they are right. If someone from outside the southeastern part of Wisconsin came to Pewaukee they would think that all of us are rich and spoiled. I actually agree with that although it is not 100% true, the rumor is not effected by all people even though it is just over half of the families. This is similar to Mrs. Wilson because when she found out Boyd was black, she transferred more stereotypes to his mother and father, but was still incorrect because she thought if one person looks different they are different even if you have never seen them or heard of them.
This story reminds me of a book called, I Never Had It Made, an autobiography by Jackie Robinson. He was a black baseball player that was playing ball in the Negro League when the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers took him to the National Baseball League for white people. He faced criticism and death threats that he had to deal with and overcome through his baseball career. When he went to stadiums to play baseball, the white people would shout racist comments that weren't true about his race. Jackie Robinson could symbolize the boys in this story trying to defend themselves by showing Mrs. Wilson what Boyd's background really is. The fans in the stadiums and the critics would symbolize Mrs. Wilson that wanted to be right to find out if the stereotypes she heard were true. Both Robinson and the boys succeeded in proving everyone wrong by showing that they could stand their ground to get rid of the rumors and stereotypes weighing down their ethnic group.I believe that Shirley Jackson is trying to teach us the importance of not being prejudice. The mom in the story has grown up in the society where she heard only people saying hurtful things to different colored people was natural. She thought because he was black that he had no where to go and his dad was a factory worker that lifted heavy objects on a daily basis making him built and strong. But since she was prejudice, she got burned by her own son and his friend. What Mrs. Jackson wants us to take away from this passage is that we should get to know people before we can judge them.
The world is a cruel place, especially when you have people that are judging other people before they even get to know them. Shirley Jackson really wanted to show us how many times we can be proven wrong by just assuming things. Mrs. Wilson learned a lesson to "not judge a book (or person) by its cover." Jackie Robinson did with his baseball career and Boyd did it with the facts and background of his family. All of the problems were forced on by critics coming up with stereotypes to make someone look bad the way they are not meant to be looked at.
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