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Comparing The Double Meaning Of Racism And The Demon Lover

447 Words2 Pages

Racism and the paranormal: the double meaning of the The Test and The Demon Lover throughout the text The Demon Lover and The Test are not stand-alone stories. In both stories, there is some extra literary knowledge required to completely grasp the (double) meaning of the texts and the titles. How does the double meaning of the title become clear throughout the Test and The Demon Lover? At first, it seems as though ‘The Test’ is just about a driving test, be it an incredibly racist one. Racism does become more and more important through the text. The first hint is given in line 6 pg. 25, in which it is said that she might have flunked her first driving test because her companion was black. Another early hint is dropped in line 20 pg. 25, which is also a hint to the end of the story. …show more content…

E.g. the instructor keeps calling her “Mandy-Lou”, mentions “a flock of pickaninnies” (line 57 pg. 25), mentions the south as her probable place of birth, imitates a southern accent (lines 4-5 pg. 26) and is surprised by her education (lines 18-19 pg. 26) In the end, it turns out the driving test was not about her driving at all, it was to test her tolerance of racist remarks. When she finally loses her patience, the inspector fails her again. The Test is a very political text: the titular test is the daily struggle of Afro-Americans with everyday racism. They were expected to simply endure it, without remark. Marian, however, does lose her composure and fails her ‘test’, as well as her driving

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