Two summers ago, in College Park Maryland, I had an unavoidable encounter with feeling truly invisible. I was staying with a host family for three weeks in coordination with College Park tennis academy. The family’s name was the Ingratis, and they had a boy my age named Alex. Alex had similar interests to me and was always friendly enough when I engaged with him. During the first two weeks of my stay, the other boy Alec was relatively friendly and nice toward me. We had lots of conversations about tennis and had a lot of fun during our nightly game of H.O.R.S.E (basketball) with Alec’s dad. At the training facility he wasn’t overly welcoming but he was nice enough and I found my way. Everyone was nice, but in the end, tennis time was for tennis.
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Despite this, the feeling of discomfort that set in whenever I wandered anywhere else in the house was rough. I would never know where anyone was, and often found myself running into the mother and getting an odd look for even attempting to find other activity to do. In that sense, I felt invisible. Even at the dinner table with the whole family, Holden and Alex would discuss things I couldn’t relate to at all and would make inside jokes I couldn’t begin to understand. I find this experience to be similar, in that sense, to that of Birdie’s at school. She is viewed as an outcast for being seen as “different”, even though she probably shares many similarities with the people around her. Such misconceptions and events that go on with Birdie shape the way she narrates the story.
In the passage (32-35) from Caucasia by Danzy Senna, Deck and Sandy grapple with the vulnerabilities that visibility presents. When Birdie initially notices Deck, it is immediately clear how much is dark skin makes him stand out. Without even saying a word to Deck Birdie already is analyzing every aspect of him. “She told me she had wondered about this fact: Why were Negroes so neat and tidy compared to white people? (34)” Sandy’s
Despite this, the feeling of discomfort that set in whenever I wandered anywhere else in the house was rough. I would never know where anyone was, and often found myself running into the mother and getting an odd look for even attempting to find other activity to do. In that sense, I felt invisible. Even at the dinner table with the whole family, Holden and Alex would discuss things I couldn’t relate to at all and would make inside jokes I couldn’t begin to understand. I find this experience to be similar, in that sense, to that of Birdie’s at school. She is viewed as an outcast for being seen as “different”, even though she probably shares many similarities with the people around her. Such misconceptions and events that go on with Birdie shape the way she narrates the story.
In the passage (32-35) from Caucasia by Danzy Senna, Deck and Sandy grapple with the vulnerabilities that visibility presents. When Birdie initially notices Deck, it is immediately clear how much is dark skin makes him stand out. Without even saying a word to Deck Birdie already is analyzing every aspect of him. “She told me she had wondered about this fact: Why were Negroes so neat and tidy compared to white people? (34)” Sandy’s