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Summary Of Shame By Dick Gregory

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The text “Shame” recites a tragic incident about the author. The author Dick Gregory, a black political activist, comedian, and writer has written many books. It appears that Dick Gregory wrote about a shameful moment of himself from his childhood. The text covers the tragic moment he experienced, as the first time Gregory dealt with shame in his life. In conclusion, the sad nonfiction excerpt “Shame” retells a tragedy of Dick Gregory. The text tells a shameful experience in Dick Gregory's childhood. At age seven, he first experienced shame and embarrassment from his teacher. In the excerpt, Richard (Main Character) had tried to stand up one day, to impress Helene with the fact he would donate money to the Community Chest. When the teacher was calling out name of the people in class to ask if and how much money they would donate to the Community Chest, the teacher called out Richard’s name. So Richard stood up and raised his hand and spoke “you forgot me?” The teacher shot back, “we are collecting this money for you and your kind.” Richard was still hesitating about stop talking and claimed, “I got it right now, I got it right now, and my Daddy gave it to me to turn it in today, my Daddy said.” Before Richard could finish his sentence the teacher got aggravated with him and yelled out an offensive response to Richard. She uttered back, “and furthermore, we all know you don't …show more content…

Richard the character in the book, portrays the author from when he faced hardship in school. He got criticized by his teacher because of his social class. Richard got frustrated with himself for being so poor and in need of relief. He was upset with the fact that he got embarrassed in front of his classmates and especially Helene. This all justifies the fact that the most shameful event in Richards and Dick Gregory's life took place during his childhood and at

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In ”Shame” Dick Gregory discusses the difficulty he was having in school when he was a teeenager just because he was poor kid who didn’t have much and he didn’t get the same value as the other kids in the classroom. First, Gregory mention he was seven years old that is when he got is first lesson in school and use to have a crush on a girl name Helene Tucker he would do anything just for that girl. During his teenage years, when the water get frozen at his house he would use shopped ice to watch his clothes so that he could keep himself clean for her and sometime he get sick from it because he put them on meanwhile it still wet. Finally, It took him twenty-nine years to forget about her crush and that is when he get married and making money so, that show me he was still being hurt from his past and everything that he do was connected with Helene Tucker. In this essay I will talk about Gregory past he was he was seven years old and why he took him twenty- nine years to forget about this girl.

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He is portrayed as a mastermind in the cold-blooded killing of the Clutters family, a man with little respect for the lives of others, which can be seen through Dick’s expression before the murder of the Clutters when he converses Perry, “We’re gonna go in there and splatter those walls with hair” (Capote 234). This sudden tone shift enables Capote to depict Dick as a cruel and immoral character. Dick’s lack of empathy and concern for other people beside himself allow him to commit crimes without remorse, which is in contrast to Perry’s moral contemplation after each bad actions they committed. Moreover, Dick is represented as the true criminal with evident motives in murdering the Clutters, while Perry is seen as a vulnerable victim who depends on Dick for validation and acceptance, something in which Dick happily provides in order to manipulate Perry, as Capote writes, “Dick became convinced that Perry was that rarity, ‘a natural born killer,’—absolutely sane but conscienceless, and capable of dealing with or without motive, the coldest-blooded deathblows. It was Dick's theory that such a gift could, under his supervision, be profitably exploited” (Capote 205).

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Truly successful authors have the ability to convey their view of a place without actually saying it, to portray a landscape in a certain light simply by describing it. In the provided excerpt taken from the opening paragraphs of “Shame,” Dick Gregory does just this. Through his use of stylistic elements such as selection of detail, old-fashioned language, repetition of words and simple sentences, Gregory reveals the shame within being poor setting the stage for a periodic ending. Beginning in the first paragraph of the passage, Gregory selects the two most simple sentences introducing the shame saying, “ I never learned hate at home, or shame. I had to go to school for that” (1).

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