Laura Berger Ms. Tenore 1/13/23 English 8 Warriors don’t Cry Descriptive Response The memoir, Warriors don’t Cry, has many symbols that have deep meanings and symbolize something bigger than what they are. One of these is the bodyguards. The bodyguards were not sent out to stop racism and harassment, but they were instead there to show false support for the idea of integration. The President felt he had to show that he wasn’t willingly supporting segregationists, so he used bodyguards to prove this. These bodyguards are an extremely important symbol in this memoir as they represent the impact that the segregationists had. Segregation and racial harassment were so bad at the time, that even the President felt he had to do something regarding …show more content…
A prominent theme throughout this entire memoir is justice. Justice can only be reached if everyone does their part. Melba and the rest of the Little Rock Nine fought to get justice for themselves and every other black person who came after them. This is significant to Melba as it is something that always reached for, and she continued to struggle at Central High so that she could eventually receive justice. The people at Central High did not fight for justice but instead fought against it. This deeply affected what Melba and the rest of the Little Rock Nine were striving for because it made it a lot harder for them to get everyone on their side and to stop the harassment that they faced every single day. Another important theme is sacrifice. Achieving justice requires many sacrifices. Sacrifices are shown throughout the whole memoir, like Melba risking her life every day for a better education and her mom sacrificing her job so that her daughter could attend Central High. Sacrifice is what eventually lets Melba receive the education that she always wanted at Central High. Although Melba and her family had to sacrifice so much, it was worth it in the end because she finally received the education she had always dreamed of. In addition to this, perseverance is an important theme as well. Life comes with challenges, but persevering helps you become stronger in the end. After being attacked countless times, Melba continued to persevere and she never gave up on what she wanted, a better education. Furthermore, racism is one of the most prominent themes throughout the memoir. Racism isn’t feeling superior, it is instead feeling threatened. Melba and the rest of the Little Rock Nine experienced racism in their daily lives. The segregationists felt threatened by the black students because they were integrating into a school that felt like “their own.” The white students at Central High feared