The characters of the twelve short stories have to endure tough lives in American society as minority group members or as vulnerable members of society. The Black Americans of the short stories, "Big Meeting," "Everything That Rise Must Converge," "Nineteen Fifty-five," and "The Man Who Was Almost a Man" are discriminated against just for the reason that they are Black. Because of the Whites' disrespectful and ignorant attitude toward the Blacks, the Blacks absorb insults, and they feel the sorrow of powerlessness.
The characters of "Sufficing," "In Cuba I was a German Shepherd," and "Seventeen Syllables" feel the sorrow of powerlessness in American society because they are regarded as a less important members of society in America. Those immigrants face many difficult situations in American society because they are not good at English, they cannot be easily assimilated into the new cultures and struggle with the ideas in a foreign country.
In the short story, "Loverboys," the narrator and her lover boys had to break up because of the negative prejudices that majority group members (heterosexual people) have towards them. Then, the Native American characters of "The Red Convertible," and "Blue Winds Dancing," feel the sorrow of powerlessness because it is very difficult for them to keep their identities in American society as minorities because their civil rights and freedom cannot be guaranteed, and the majority group members (the Whites) do not respect Native American's cultures and values. The laborers of "The Buddies," are not sufficiently respected and cannot achieve equal rights. Their sorrow of powerlessness results from a corrupted hierarchical society and the tyranny of the company. Lastly, in the short story, "The Hammons and the Beans," Chonita suffers from hunger, and she becomes the object of jokes because of her ethnicity and limited English. She is the minority group member whose civil rights cannot be guaranteed.
In the above twelve short stories, the characters try to overcome the sorrow they feel due to their mutual feelings of powerlessness by sharing their grief with other people who have common ethnic backgrounds. They try hard to survive in the difficult circumstances, and additionally, they let the majority of the group members (the Whites) know that they are not inferior to them. Furthermore, they try to keep their identities, their own cultures, and their beliefs in order to overcome the sorrow of powerlessness. Despite their endeavors, it is difficult to overcome their sorrow in American society because of the deep-rooted social prejudices and the social-political structure of the established majority group members (the Whites).
The characters of "Sufficing," "In Cuba I was a German Shepherd," and "Seventeen Syllables" feel the sorrow of powerlessness in American society because they are regarded as a less important members of society in America. Those immigrants face many difficult situations in American society because they are not good at English, they cannot be easily assimilated into the new cultures and struggle with the ideas in a foreign country.
In the short story, "Loverboys," the narrator and her lover boys had to break up because of the negative prejudices that majority group members (heterosexual people) have towards them. Then, the Native American characters of "The Red Convertible," and "Blue Winds Dancing," feel the sorrow of powerlessness because it is very difficult for them to keep their identities in American society as minorities because their civil rights and freedom cannot be guaranteed, and the majority group members (the Whites) do not respect Native American's cultures and values. The laborers of "The Buddies," are not sufficiently respected and cannot achieve equal rights. Their sorrow of powerlessness results from a corrupted hierarchical society and the tyranny of the company. Lastly, in the short story, "The Hammons and the Beans," Chonita suffers from hunger, and she becomes the object of jokes because of her ethnicity and limited English. She is the minority group member whose civil rights cannot be guaranteed.
In the above twelve short stories, the characters try to overcome the sorrow they feel due to their mutual feelings of powerlessness by sharing their grief with other people who have common ethnic backgrounds. They try hard to survive in the difficult circumstances, and additionally, they let the majority of the group members (the Whites) know that they are not inferior to them. Furthermore, they try to keep their identities, their own cultures, and their beliefs in order to overcome the sorrow of powerlessness. Despite their endeavors, it is difficult to overcome their sorrow in American society because of the deep-rooted social prejudices and the social-political structure of the established majority group members (the Whites).