Imagine living a life where you are judged, not based on your personality or your actions towards others, but by what your ethnic background or religion is. How would you feel if you did no wrong, but you are judged because someone else who shares your culture did do something wrong? Often people develop opinions about someone when they scarcely know them. In the two books, The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson and The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen the characters show that many people are judged because of their culture.
In The Day of the Pelican characters are determined by their culture. For Instance, Isuf thinks that Christians kill people. The text states, “‘Isuf asked, ‘All those Christians? Maybe they just want to get us …show more content…
It also stated earlier in the same paragraph, that he had never meant Christians before, so without even meeting someone who is a Christian he identifies them as a killer because of their culture. Another prime example, is when Meli heard someone comparing one culture killing a person to how fast another culture would. In the text it says, “She had heard it whispered that if the KLA suspect that you were a spy or government sympathizer they would kill you as fast as the Serbs would” (Paterson 26). In this piece of text, it shows that characters really thought that another character was a killer depending on their culture. They are comparing one culture killing a person to how fast another culture would. In this text they are not just talking about one person in that culture, they are talking about all of them. This shows how much characters were judged by their culture. In addition, Serbs thought that if you were Albanian you were part of the KLA, and they killed you. On page 7, Paterson states,”’Those Serb butchers just went in and slaughtered them all...they said that he was part of the …show more content…
An example, is when the blokova implies that if you are a certain culture, you are a bad worker. Yolen states this on page 149, “‘You Jews,’ the blokova’s voice drawled sleepily,’ you can never do anything quietly or effectively’” (Yolen 149). This means, she said “Jews” which means she was saying this about all the characters who are Jewish. She thinks that Jewish people can not do work effectively or quietly, and it seems like she detest them because of that reason. She judges how they work based on their culture. Not on what she has seen when each individual person is working. This is also shown when, Rivka was saying that Greek Jews were slow. The text says, “‘Rivka answered,"Because they do not understand commands fast enough, they do not react fast enough‘“ (Paterson 115). In this piece of text, one of the characters Rivka was talking about Greek Jews. She was not talking about one individual she was talking about all of them. This proves that characters are judged by their culture because Rivka thinks that if someone is a Greek Jew they are slow. But Rivka is basing this off of a few Greek Jews she has seen, and assumes that all of that culture is slow and dormant. Rivka could have been more deliberate, and not judge Greek Jews based off a few people. The last example, is when the Germans get all the good belongings.Yolen says on page 129,‘"Gitl
In The Day of the Pelican characters are determined by their culture. For Instance, Isuf thinks that Christians kill people. The text states, “‘Isuf asked, ‘All those Christians? Maybe they just want to get us …show more content…
It also stated earlier in the same paragraph, that he had never meant Christians before, so without even meeting someone who is a Christian he identifies them as a killer because of their culture. Another prime example, is when Meli heard someone comparing one culture killing a person to how fast another culture would. In the text it says, “She had heard it whispered that if the KLA suspect that you were a spy or government sympathizer they would kill you as fast as the Serbs would” (Paterson 26). In this piece of text, it shows that characters really thought that another character was a killer depending on their culture. They are comparing one culture killing a person to how fast another culture would. In this text they are not just talking about one person in that culture, they are talking about all of them. This shows how much characters were judged by their culture. In addition, Serbs thought that if you were Albanian you were part of the KLA, and they killed you. On page 7, Paterson states,”’Those Serb butchers just went in and slaughtered them all...they said that he was part of the …show more content…
An example, is when the blokova implies that if you are a certain culture, you are a bad worker. Yolen states this on page 149, “‘You Jews,’ the blokova’s voice drawled sleepily,’ you can never do anything quietly or effectively’” (Yolen 149). This means, she said “Jews” which means she was saying this about all the characters who are Jewish. She thinks that Jewish people can not do work effectively or quietly, and it seems like she detest them because of that reason. She judges how they work based on their culture. Not on what she has seen when each individual person is working. This is also shown when, Rivka was saying that Greek Jews were slow. The text says, “‘Rivka answered,"Because they do not understand commands fast enough, they do not react fast enough‘“ (Paterson 115). In this piece of text, one of the characters Rivka was talking about Greek Jews. She was not talking about one individual she was talking about all of them. This proves that characters are judged by their culture because Rivka thinks that if someone is a Greek Jew they are slow. But Rivka is basing this off of a few Greek Jews she has seen, and assumes that all of that culture is slow and dormant. Rivka could have been more deliberate, and not judge Greek Jews based off a few people. The last example, is when the Germans get all the good belongings.Yolen says on page 129,‘"Gitl