In “Shame”, Dick Gregory uses indirect characterization to show that an original is worth a lot more than a copy.In this story, Gregory uses the character Richard to prove his statement. Richard does a series of actions to look good in front of Helene Tucker. The story says: “I brushed my hair and got me a little old handkerchief . It was a lady’s handkerchief, but I didn’t want Helene to see me wipe my nose on my hand”.
This shows that he is embarrassed of who he really is, thus he acts differently in front of Helene to the point where he would use a lady’s handkerchief.The character’s speech shows that he does not only act to impress Helene,but he also speaks to impress her.For example: “My daddy said he would give …fifteen dollars”. This shows that he is getting to a point where he would lie just to impress Helene. As a result, the teacher strips him to his bare reality by saying: “We know you don’t have a daddy”. Through examples such as these, Dick gregory seems to imply that an original is worth way more than a copy.
