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What Is The Theme Of The Test By Mra Gibbs

803 Words4 Pages

A short story which has an important theme is the test by Angelica Gibbs. The story is set in America in the 1950s which is important as this is a time where black people did not receive equal rights to white people. The story follows Marian a hardworking, intelligent young black women who is resetting her driving test after being failed the first time due to racism. The story’s main themes are racism and abuse of power which Gibbs explores through her use of literary techniques such as characterisation, language and turning point. Gibbs first explores the theme of racism through her characterisation of Mrs Ericson, Marians employer. Mrs Ericson appears to value Marian and acts not only as her employer but also as her friend, however this …show more content…

When Marian declares herself to be 27 the driving instructor replies with extremely offensive language, he replies “old enough to have quite a flock of pickanninies, eh?” Here he is assuming that by the age of 27 she will have lots of children , this is due to his racist ideology that the only thing black women are good for is producing children, which according to the driving instructor are only good for becoming slaves. By referring to the children as a “flock” he is showing his utter disdain for them, considering them no more than an uncivilised, savage group of animals, as well as using the derogatory term “pickanninies” which is used to describe a small black slave child. The theme of racism is also explored when the driving instructors racism further intensifies, he assumes that Marian only wants her driving licence in order to “sneak out nights to meet some young blood” by insinuating that Marian will deceive her employer and steal her car as a means to find young black men for sex he is declaring her to be an utterly untrustworthy and immoral person. The theme of abuse of power has also been explored through the writers language as he is using his position to taunt her and reveal many of his false prejudice

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