Racial Discrimination In The Silver Bell

Analysis of ’The Silver Bell’

All around the world, there is racial discrimination. You see it as a big deal in the United States, and even in Denmark. Mostly it involves blacks, who are being discriminated or treated unfairly. This is something that is today, and something that was once. In David Evans’s short story ‘The Silver Bell’ from 2006, this topic of racism and apartheid is in the spotlight, as some of the whites in South Africa cannot accept the reality of the blacks having equal rights in the country.

In the short story ‘The Silver Bell’, we are introduced to a few characters of which the main character is Mrs Mackenzie. Mrs Mackenzie’s first name is Ida, and she is a white woman, who likes everything in good order. “No household,

She has a black household named Beauty, and Mackenzie thinks of her as matching the three R’s. However, one day when Mrs Mackenzie shakes the silver bell, which is intended to summon the maid, Beauty does not come. “This was utterly unlike Beauty. Mrs Mackenzie couldn’t recall her having been more than an hour late in twenty-five years. Beauty was reliable.” (P. 193, L. 17-19). This comes as a surprise for her at first. However, she realizes after short time that Beauty might not be as controllable as she wishes her to be, because in the end of the story Beauty quits. At this moment, the roles have changed. “’I would like that.’ It was a long moment before Mrs Mackenzie realized that the brown finger was pointing at the little silver bell.” (P. 201, L. 26-28). Beauty wants the silver bell above tins from the kitchen or a nice dress. The silver bell here, as of the name of the title, symbolizes both freedom and power. Freedom and rights for Beauty and power for Mackenzie. At the start, Mackenzie has the power to command Beauty to do things, however, when Beauty then wants the little silver bell, it symbolizes a change of roles in society. Beauty now has as much power as Mrs Mackenzie – making them