Gloria Naylor's The Meanings Of A Word

In “The Meanings of a Word” by Gloria Naylor, Naylor discusses how the aspect of a word can mean different things to different people in many different situations. She speaks on how the word “nigger” is used often in her neighborhood. She describes how the word can transition to having a positive meaning, to a very negative meaning just by the way it is said or who says it. She goes on to explain how words are harmless and don’t mean anything, but once the general public agrees that a word has a certain meaning it then gains power and can be used to harm others. Naylor first discovered the presence of this word upon a conflict she faced as a child. She was in her third grade math class when her teacher gave the class their math test back. A little white boy sitting behind her noticed that Naylor had gotten a higher grade then he had. As she handed his test back to him, he snatched it from her hands and called her a nigger. It did not take much time for this conflict to be resolved. Naylor realized that the word was used all throughout her community. She learned that the word “nigger” can be used in different context and not always mean a something bad. She also asked her mother …show more content…
This means that this made up word did not have any meaning to it. It was only until caucasian people, who felt the we’re superior to African Americans, decided that the word can be used in a derogatory manner. Naylor also says, “And so among the anecdotes of the triumphs and disappointments in the various workings of their lives, the word nigger was used in my presence, but it was set within contexts and inflections that caused it to register in my mind as something else” (2). This means as a child she has always heard the word being used amongst others in a positive tone. It was only until the child sitting behind her used it in such a vulgar manner, that made her realize the word