Noughts and Crosses ” Noughts and Crosses” by Ma lorie Blackman is a novel which follows the lives and experiences of two characters, Callum and Sephy. Throughout the book Blackman deals with a number of issues including relationships, alcohol abuse, power abuse, depression and violence. However, the key issues of the book are racism and prejudice. These issues of racism and prejudice are conveyed through the narrative techniques of characterization, point of view, language, structure and setting. The author uses language as a tool to show the characters’s tat us in society as black or white. Various language techniques are used to display the classes of society.
The words “blanker” (used by blacks to describe whites) and “dagger” (used by whites to describe blacks) are used repeatedly throughout the novel. This use of language reflects the intolerant attitudes towards one another in Blackman’s radical world. There is a significant amount of symbolism used in these words. “Blanker” is used to describe a blank, worthless, brainless white person. And “dagger” is used to depict a weapon that is capable of scratching and severing, reducing and disconnecting a person, or even bringing them to an end completely.
” I bet it was one of her blanker friends, they ” re blank by name and blank by nature.” Through the difference of educated, formal language used by Crosses and the sometimes tasteless, simple language of the noughts, the reader can see the grades in which noughts and Crosses are separately classed. Through this technique I believe Blackman is trying to show the extent to which racism can affect people. It can lessen, degrade and have heavy social affects on a person proving where they belong and what they will never be. The language is also used to emphasize the feelings and emotions of Callum and Sephy. The use of descriptive writing is employed by Blackman to give the reader insight into the effects and emotions of racism. “I was talking like my mouth was full of stones – and sharp jagged ones at that.” The book is full of descriptive writing and figurative language with use of similes and metaphors to explore the feelings of Callum and Sephy.
The Term Paper on If Black English Isn't A Language Then Tell Me What Is?
The English language functioning as a system of racism and colonization in a “Post”-Colonial America. James Baldwin’s If Black English Isn’t Language, Then Tell Me, What Is asserts the English language as a contemporary system of racism and marginalization. The construction of Western language reflects the same alienating principles which validate the Western ideology of race, executing the ...
The way in which Blackman uses these language techniques influences the reader to especially pity the white race and the way they are treated in the book. Blackman has created her own world to resemble our own oppositely and by us pitying the noughts in the novel, the white reader really empathizes to pity blacks in our society. The setting is essential in highlighting the severity of racism in the world Blackman has created. The reader realizes that racism is apparent in the society in which Callum and Sephy live but it is not until Callum is given the rare opportunity to attend a Cross school that we see the extent of discrimination and intolerance towards noughts which commonly occurs.
The merging of noughts and Crosses changes the setting completely, throwing the reader directly into conflict. The racist values and attitudes of Crosses are clearly seen on Callum’s first day of school when Crosses are uncontrollably protesting, continually chanting ‘No blanker in our school’. This displays that the world Callum and Sephy live in is a drastic reversal of ours. Instead of the white race being dominant in society, power roles are radically reversed so blacks are the elite race. Underlying the issue of racism is the issue of relationships and that in this extreme world Callum and Sephy can never be together in a nought and Cross relationship.
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Many people in America like to believe that racism is no longer apart of today’s world. They couldn’t be farther from the truth. In the twentieth-century, racism seemed to hit an all-time high around the world. With America trying to cope after the Civil War and Europe facing genocide, discrimination seemed inevitable, but can the problem of racism be solved? When looking back on America’s history ...
I think Blackman is trying to recreate a world using the same system as apartheid did in South Africa during the late 1940’s to early 1990’s. She is using the book as a way to impact the white population by informing them of the discrimination black people have suffered. The structure of the novel is significant in presenting the issues of racism from both sides of the story. The story starts with a prologue which sets the scene and introduces conflict. The novel then follows with divided parts, which are further divided into alternating point of views from Sephy and Callum. In the prologue the initial conflicts are established.
The issues of relationships and racism are alluded to, “Maggie forced herself to believe that things would be better for the children, otherwise what was the point of it all.” Blackman introduces the reader into the prejudiced world she has created. The alternating point of view in the structure then allows the reader to be presented with a number of issues coming from both sides of the completely different but exactly the same story. We are taken through a journey exploring the mutual conflicts between Sephy and Callum in their contrasting worlds. Through this technique Blackman has presented a non-bias account which further supports the theme of racism, impacting both the black and white readers to a fuller extent. Characterization is employed to show the reader the harsh effects of racism and prejudice.
The character of Callum develops through the point of view and the structure, which aids in conveying the issues of discrimination. As the plot and the characters advance we find that noughts and Crosses are white skinned people and dark skinned people. The reader then finds that in contrast to our world, Crosses (dark skinned people) are the superior race and noughts are subject to harsh racism and discrimination. Because of the role reversal, the white race is placed as the victims giving us an idea of the suffering many generations of black people have experienced.
The Essay on Racism in “Huckleberry Finn” and “The Plot Against America”
“Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason” - Abraham J. Herschel Racism in “Huckleberry Finn” and “The Plot Against America” I. Overview of the Novels Acclaimed critically by literature experts, writers and the readers of all ages, Samuel Langhorne Clemens’ (Mark Twain) Adventures of Huckleberry Finn owns one of the top-ranked slots in the broad list of ...
As a white person, I found is hard to grasp the fact that Callum was also white and suffered such prejudice. The book challenged my context and placed me in a position I had never been in before, which led me to empathize with the discrimination blacks have suffered as a result of our prejudice in a way I have never before. Racism and its effects on society and individuals are particularly addressed through point of view technique. The story is written from first person perspective, alternating from Callum to Sephy.
A significant example of this is the point of view alternation describing a day at Celebration Park. While Sephy describes it as a “lovely day” Callum seems to describe it differently. Here Callum reveals how he is treated everywhere he goes, immediately pinpointed as a criminal, scum… a nought, while Sephy, as the elite race is free to go where she likes without having to worry about what Callum faces everyday. This technique is effective in presenting both sides of their story accenting the differences in life standards, opportunities and rights. However Callum’s despair still affects Sephy, even when you are the wealthy daughter of a respected politician, Sephy will never be happy until she can be with Callum in an equal society.
I think the authors values and attitudes are clearly shown through Sephy’s unhappiness. Blackman believes love and family to be more important than business, material goods, money and skin colour. Noughts and Crosses is an in depth story which explores the issues of racism and prejudice and the effects they can have on society. Blackman has created a world of her own in complete contrast to the society we live in.
By doing this she has impacted her readers, challenged our contexts and allowed the reader insight into the effects of racism and the suffering it can cause. Blackman has effectively used a range of narrative techniques to bring her world to life giving the white reader a taste of the discrimination blacks have suffered for centuries, provoking feelings of empathy and understanding. By turning the world upside down, Blackman makes her readers see things more clearly.
