Raymond’s Run
"Raymond's Run" is a short story by Toni Cade Bambara. It is narrated by Hazel Parker, known as Squeaky, whose strong voice lures the reader in immediately. The idea in the story is about how she has to take care of her older brother Raymond because he has a presumed disability. The central idea is that Squeaky is true to herself unlike others. The pivotal moment at the end shows Squeaky learning to be less self-centered by giving up her competitive running in order to start training Raymond for running. This happens after she wins a May Day race and has a moment of realization noticing Raymond mimicking her running.
The story takes place in Harlem and Squeaky mentions the setting two times in contrast to the "country" where she used to live. First, Squeaky is waiting for the …show more content…
"Gretchen smiles, but it's not a smile, and I'm thinking that girls never really smile at each other because they don't know how and don't want to know how and there's probably no one to teach us how, 'cause grown-up girls don't know either." Squeaky goes on to say how much she dislikes pretense. She does not want to dress up and dance around the May Pole because that is not who she is. She is a runner, and she does not have time for pretending to be what she is not. So at the end of the story when she and Gretchen finish the race, she realizes how good Gretchen is, and she smiles at her. Gretchen returns the smile, and maybe for the first time, they have this real smile between them. They are both being authentic-real people who respect one another. But one of Gretchen's sidekicks Rosie is not an authentic person. I say this because in the story Rosie is always coping Gretchen to be popular. That is not being yourself and gives the indication that you are Xerox copy of someone else. That is definitely not being another
"Raymond's Run" is a short story by Toni Cade Bambara. It is narrated by Hazel Parker, known as Squeaky, whose strong voice lures the reader in immediately. The idea in the story is about how she has to take care of her older brother Raymond because he has a presumed disability. The central idea is that Squeaky is true to herself unlike others. The pivotal moment at the end shows Squeaky learning to be less self-centered by giving up her competitive running in order to start training Raymond for running. This happens after she wins a May Day race and has a moment of realization noticing Raymond mimicking her running.
The story takes place in Harlem and Squeaky mentions the setting two times in contrast to the "country" where she used to live. First, Squeaky is waiting for the …show more content…
"Gretchen smiles, but it's not a smile, and I'm thinking that girls never really smile at each other because they don't know how and don't want to know how and there's probably no one to teach us how, 'cause grown-up girls don't know either." Squeaky goes on to say how much she dislikes pretense. She does not want to dress up and dance around the May Pole because that is not who she is. She is a runner, and she does not have time for pretending to be what she is not. So at the end of the story when she and Gretchen finish the race, she realizes how good Gretchen is, and she smiles at her. Gretchen returns the smile, and maybe for the first time, they have this real smile between them. They are both being authentic-real people who respect one another. But one of Gretchen's sidekicks Rosie is not an authentic person. I say this because in the story Rosie is always coping Gretchen to be popular. That is not being yourself and gives the indication that you are Xerox copy of someone else. That is definitely not being another