Raymond's Run Quotes

In the story Raymond’s Run by Toni Cade Bambara, there are many author’s messages, but the one I think is the strongest is being yourself and not pretending to be something you aren’t. People may want you to be something else, but you should be yourself, not what others want you to be. One quote that supports the author’s message of being yourself is,“Now you take Cynthia Procter for instance. She’s just the opposite. If there’s a test tomorrow, she’ll say something like, ‘Oh, I guess I’ll play hand-ball this afternoon and watch television tonight’, just to let you know she ain’t thinking about the test…. But of course when I pass her house on my early morning trots around the block, she is practicing the scales on the piano over and over and over and over. Then in music class she always lets herself get bumped around so she falls

Cynthia pretends that she doesn’t have to practice things to get good at them, but in reality, she has to practice a lot to get good at something. She tries to make everyone think that things just come naturally to her and she is just good at things. Squeaky likes people who don’t pretend or put on a mask, but instead people who are themselves and don’t put on a mask. Cynthia likes to pretend and put on a mask, but Squeaky on the other hand, likes to be herself and doesn’t like to pretend to be something she’s not. Another quote that supports the author’s message is, “The biggest thing on the program is the May Pole dancing, which I can do without, thank you, even if my mother thinks it’s a shame I don’t take part and act like a girl for a change…. You’d think she’d be glad her daughter ain’t out there prancing around a May Pole getting the new clothes all dirty and sweaty and trying to act like a fairy or a flower or whatever you’re supposed to be when you should be trying to be yourself…” (lines