Life isn't Fair
I always thought I lived in a world where everyone was equal. I learned about racism and sexism early in my life, but it all seemed like stories and fables, ending happily. The north won the war, slavery ended, and women received the right to vote. Good always succeeded over evil. I lived in a bubble of liberal upper class optimism. I grew up in a community in which, to the best of my knowledge, racism and discrimination were never an issue. People went to the gym, moms drove their kids to soccer. Girls were allowed to play football and I was told I could do and be whatever I wanted when I grew up. It was not until I was older that I learned the true meaning of the saying: “Life isn’t fair.” In “No Name Woman,” and “Notes of a Native Son,” essays written by Maxine Hong Kingston and James Baldwin, respectively, their writings reflect the views of the world in which I now am aware of today. Both have faced injustice in their lives and were able to overcome the restriction of traditional society and cultures by choosing their own path and method of breaking with these restrictions. Baldwin overcomes hate and racism, and Kingston overcomes sexism and strong, traditional Chinese restrictions. . . .
Like Baldwin I can never regain my childlike sense of optimism, however, I can accept the injustice in this world and not let it take over my life. She has become an inspiration to many other writers with her powerful words and opinions. He saw the effects of racism on his father but never believed that one day it would come to haunt him too. It is clear that her pregnancy is not to be tolerated in her family or community. He learns that he has the opportunity to make the best out of his life and that he does not have to remain in a country where he feels like a person of lesser value. Baldwin resists everything to avoid becoming like his father and he realizes that, “In order to really hate white people, one has to blot so much out of the mind-and the heart-that this hatred itself becomes an exhausting and self-destructive pose. While Baldwin had to overcome his hate over racism, and his father, Maxine Hong Kingston had to overcome the sexism in traditional Chinese culture. Everywhere he went he was told “We don’t serve Negroes here. She uses her frustration about society to create works of literature to educate others. The sole blame is placed on Kingston’s aunt. Baldwin’s escape involves not only running away from his own hatred but also his father’s fate. In the end she chooses not to try to overcome society in all and drowns herself and the baby instead. Baldwin refuses to become exhausted and let his hatred kill him. Kingston’s aunt is punished and yet this man is not.
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Acceptance Essays
