Race Education comparing short stories essays

Race Education comparing short stories essays The two children portrayed in the short stories The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez and Dobys Gone by Ann Petry are at a disadvantage because of their races when it comes to forming friendships, overcoming obstacles, and preserving their childhood. While these two stories focus on one character, the difficulties that these children endure plague entire communities and groups of people. In the stories, both children are from minority backgrounds. The young boy in The Circuit is a member of a migrant family and is forced to change schools and move often while Sue, the little girl in Dobys Gone, is African American and is ridiculed because of her race. This causes them to feel like outsiders, making it difficult for them to form concrete relationships. Judging from the way her classmates hurl insults such as nigger girl, her legs are black, and how do you comb that kind of hair?(401), it is obvious that it is a struggle for Sue to fit in and form friendships. Sue has a stronger relationship with her imaginary friend Doby than she has with any children in her class. It is not so obvious in The Circuit that the boy doesnt make friends with his peers; however, instead of playing with the other children during lunch he spends time in the classroom of his teacher, his best friend at school,(262). Because he is Hispanic and new at the school it would be a challenge for him to make friends with the other students because his family is constantly packing everything into cardboard boxes(257) and moving again. Unlike this boy though, in Dobys Gone, Sue eventually makes friends with two of her classmates despite racial issues. Part of the reason Sue forms the friendships with the two other children is that she begins to fight back against her tormenters. She lashe ...