According to Judith Butler in her book, Precarious Life: the Powers of Mourning and Violence, “those who gain representation, especially self-representation, have a better chance of being humanized, and those who have no chance to represent themselves run a greater risk of being treated as less than human, regarded as less than human, or indeed, not regarded at all” (141). Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro, and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid, use the lives of their protagonists to exemplify the macro-level institutionalized marginalization of, as well as the individual micro-level prejudice and discrimination against, minority groups. By communicating the experience and impact of institutionalized discrimination through dramatic
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Schaefer defines a minority group as “a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than do the members of a dominant or majority group” (5). Members of a group must display several distinct characteristics in order to be a minority: group members share physical or cultural characteristics; group members must feel solidarity towards other members of their group, and group members must experience institutionalized social inequality (Schaefer 6). Prejudice is “a negative attitude toward an entire category of people” (Schaefer 35), usually a minority group, whereas discrimination is “the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice” (Schaefer …show more content…
He made a series of unintelligible noises—‘akhala-malakhala,’ perhaps, or ‘khalapal-khala-pala—and pressed his face alarmingly close to mine. I shifted my stance, presenting him with my side and raising my hands to shoulder height; I thought he might be mad, or drunk; I thought also that he might be a mugger, and I prepared to defend myself or to strike. Just then another man appeared; he, too, glared at me, but he took his friend by the arm and tugged at him, saying it was not worth it. Reluctantly, the first allowed himself to be led away. ‘Fucking Arab,’ he said. (Hamid 70)
This is not the first or last instance of discrimination Changez faces while at work. Changez chooses not to shave the beard he grew while taking a vacation to visit his family in Lahore, and that made a palpable difference in how he was treated:
It is remarkable, given its physical insignificance—it is only a hairstyle after all—the impact of a beard worn by a man of my complexion has on your fellow countrymen. More than once, traveling on the subway—where I had always had the feeling of seamlessly blending in—I was subjected to verbal abuse by complete strangers, and at Underwood Samson I seemed to become overnight a subject of whispers and stares. (Hamid
Schaefer defines a minority group as “a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than do the members of a dominant or majority group” (5). Members of a group must display several distinct characteristics in order to be a minority: group members share physical or cultural characteristics; group members must feel solidarity towards other members of their group, and group members must experience institutionalized social inequality (Schaefer 6). Prejudice is “a negative attitude toward an entire category of people” (Schaefer 35), usually a minority group, whereas discrimination is “the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice” (Schaefer …show more content…
He made a series of unintelligible noises—‘akhala-malakhala,’ perhaps, or ‘khalapal-khala-pala—and pressed his face alarmingly close to mine. I shifted my stance, presenting him with my side and raising my hands to shoulder height; I thought he might be mad, or drunk; I thought also that he might be a mugger, and I prepared to defend myself or to strike. Just then another man appeared; he, too, glared at me, but he took his friend by the arm and tugged at him, saying it was not worth it. Reluctantly, the first allowed himself to be led away. ‘Fucking Arab,’ he said. (Hamid 70)
This is not the first or last instance of discrimination Changez faces while at work. Changez chooses not to shave the beard he grew while taking a vacation to visit his family in Lahore, and that made a palpable difference in how he was treated:
It is remarkable, given its physical insignificance—it is only a hairstyle after all—the impact of a beard worn by a man of my complexion has on your fellow countrymen. More than once, traveling on the subway—where I had always had the feeling of seamlessly blending in—I was subjected to verbal abuse by complete strangers, and at Underwood Samson I seemed to become overnight a subject of whispers and stares. (Hamid