After You, My Dear Alphonse is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. In this story, Mrs Wilson’s son, Johnny, brings his friend named Boyd (who happens to be black) home for lunch. During lunch, the three people have tense conversations because of Mrs Wilson’s stereotypical assumptions and over-politeness. Because of his skin colour, she automatically assumes that Boyd is poor, underfeed, and isn’t provided with enough clothes so she offers him clothes and urges him to eat as much as he can. Throughout this story, Johnny and Boyd are playing a game where they repeat the phrase “After you, my dear Alphonse.”
What caught my attention in this text is the irony that is present. Usually parents or elders are labelled as the wise ones that should lead by example however, in this text, Mrs Wilson (the mother) is doing the opposite. She treats Boyd purely based on the colour of his skin, assuming he is from a deprived family and is underfed and under-clothed. On the other hand, Johnny (her son) doesn’t show as much prejudice as his mother - he doesn’t ask as much questions about Boyd’s family or isn’t surprised at Boyd’s answers as his mother is. This affected my understanding as it made me think about how “mama knows best” may not always the case and how we have think for ourselves, doing what we feel is correct instead of just doing what we've been told or following examples that may not always be right. …show more content…
When Mrs Wilson says “I’m just disappointed in you that’s all”, Boyd gets confused and doesn’t get how he made her mad - this indicates that, as Boyd is still very young, he does not know well of society’s negative stereotypes yet. I can relate this to the world and society as everyone is born pure but the way we are brought up and raised affects who we become. Boyd’s confusion shows us that racism and stereotypes is not something a person is born with but something that you are
What caught my attention in this text is the irony that is present. Usually parents or elders are labelled as the wise ones that should lead by example however, in this text, Mrs Wilson (the mother) is doing the opposite. She treats Boyd purely based on the colour of his skin, assuming he is from a deprived family and is underfed and under-clothed. On the other hand, Johnny (her son) doesn’t show as much prejudice as his mother - he doesn’t ask as much questions about Boyd’s family or isn’t surprised at Boyd’s answers as his mother is. This affected my understanding as it made me think about how “mama knows best” may not always the case and how we have think for ourselves, doing what we feel is correct instead of just doing what we've been told or following examples that may not always be right. …show more content…
When Mrs Wilson says “I’m just disappointed in you that’s all”, Boyd gets confused and doesn’t get how he made her mad - this indicates that, as Boyd is still very young, he does not know well of society’s negative stereotypes yet. I can relate this to the world and society as everyone is born pure but the way we are brought up and raised affects who we become. Boyd’s confusion shows us that racism and stereotypes is not something a person is born with but something that you are