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Squeaky In Raymond's Run

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Rejection is an everyday conflict. You run into it on your way to work. You greet it at the bus stop. However, rejection has a choice for you to take. Rejection can either a nuisance to you, or your friend that supports you through thick and thin. When you choose the “nuisance” path for rejection, you are extinguishing a fire that gives you a boost of self-confidence. On the other hand, greeting rejection as an old friend can in turn kindle the fire. One person that uses this technique within her life is the fictional character Squeaky, from the story “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara. In this story, Squeaky has to overcome her brother Raymond’s mental disability, bullies, poverty, and her mother’s girly expectations. All the obstacles life …show more content…
Her religion is not being a strawberry in a Hansel and Gretel pageant, otherwise she would not be the runner she is today. She dislikes—no, despises—her mother’s expectations, and that drives her to run away from this vivid hell. Like the protagonist of the song, “Carry On”, Squeaky is saying, “Though I’ve never been through hell like that / I’ve closed enough windows to know you can never look back”. This window that Squeaky has closed is Squeaky’s mother’s imagination. This hell she has been through—this hell that defied her lifestyle, has no place in the runner’s world. Indeed, Squeaky states: “I am not a strawberry. I do not dance on my toes. I run. That is what I am all about” (p. 32, lines 199-200). Though Squeaky has closed the window to hell—the hell still shines through. In other words, her mother is still trying to convince her that she has to be the perfect girl. This is where the curtains to her window come in. These curtains help to filter out these negative female stereotypes by allowing her to be adamant and adhering to her running “religion”. She is turning away from these girly stereotypes to zero in on her true passion of running. That is what she is all about. However, even the resilience she radiates on the outside cannot compare to …show more content…
The more rejection life gives Squeaky, the more resilience she develops—these hardships are like trophies to her, showing what a long way she has come. However, Squeaky has to suffer to develop this resilience; as seen at the beginning of the story, Squeaky is in a web of self-doubt, spinning lies around her own problems in life to deceive herself into striving to be a better runner. This reflectsa fire of resilience: a long-lasting fire that gives the wielder a boost of self-confidence. When Squeaky was a little girl, she was a flexible willow tree—open to her mother’s expectations; but as the expectations grew more and more girly, she became more stubborn, more rooted. She became more rigid; but as she became rigid, she became more prone to snapping and spiraling out of reality. We can see this when she is trying to escape the reality of her life by entering her dream sequence. This shows her resourcefulness; Squeaky is a person of action—she will use any means at hand to get what she wants. Hardships are projectiles that are thrown at Squeaky. However, what keeps her going the flames of her resilience, as she uses these hardships as kindling to keep her flames of resilience as hot as

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