The Cay by Martin Luther King - Subtle Plea for Better Race Relations - Essay Example

?Jerry Ciacho October 20, The Cay: A Subtle Plea for Better Race Relations The Cay, published in the year 1969 and dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr., is a children’s novel written by American author Theodore Taylor. This book has sold millions worldwide and has become a required reading assignment to students not only in the United States, but also around the world. The plot of The Cay is centered on an eleven-year-old boy named Phillip Enright and his journey of survival with an African American sailor from the West Indies, Timothy. The story’s context is in the island of Curacao during World War II when constant threats of German invasions ensue. Phillip’s mother then decides that the time has come up to the point where they must return to the States. On board on a dangerous sea expedition back to the state of Virginia, Phillip is unwilling to go. When their ship is attacked and sunken by a German submarine, Phillip and his mother are separated from each other. Phillip, the young boy of eleven, awakens. He finds himself floating in a wooden raft with Timothy. The two waft to a Caribbean cay where they are left to endure and survive with just a few amount of food that has been recouped from the torpedoed ship. Phillip, who has lost his eyesight due to a head injury, must rely on Timothy to subsist. Despite the fact that Phillip has been brought up by his parents and taught by a community to be dogmatic and discriminatory against the black race, his way of thinking changes as this boy learns to protect, care and love Timothy, who throughout their journey together in the wilderness of the cay, has shown Phillip selfless benevolence and extraordinary acuity. Outwardly, The Cay is a tale of survival and friendship. However, there is a deeper more profound theme and that is racial prejudice. Racial prejudice has been a constantly debated issue for decades, but it always boils down to one conclusion: The only thing racial prejudice does is shatter dreams, hope, friendship, growth and possibility of progress in the world. Many people assume they are already familiar with the problem, which encircles racial chauvinism and bigotry so well. Theodore Taylor makes the book’s readers believe in it again, reflect and think afresh. He subtly and plainly declares and asserts that all people are alike under the skin and he demonstrates and exemplifies it with an overwhelmingly simple and manifest story. Phillip's loss of sight is a focal point in the novel. It does not only underscore and put emphasis on his absolute reliance and trust on 70-year-old Timothy, it also leads our awareness to the very main issue, which is that we are all equal regardless of our skin color and in the end, we all need each other. Phillip ultimately grasps the reality and the veracity of this statement. It rained that night; a very soft rain. Not even enough to drip through the palm frond roof. Timothy breathed softly beside me. I had now been with him every moment of the day and night for two months, but I had not seen him. I remembered that ugly welted face. But now, in my memory, it did not seem ugly at all. It seemed only kind and strong. I asked, 'Timothy, are you still black?' His laughter filled the hut. (13.52-54) The tragic blindness that arose in Phillip became a blessing in disguise and is the narrative’s fundamental metaphor for the enduring transformation in the way Phillip saw the world. He finally understands and learns not to form an immediate opinion based merely on outward physical appearance and features. The purpose of the writing of the book was not to demonstrate and show what life was like for the blinded boy. Blindness was an effectual metaphor and symbol for his shifting outlook and notion of the world. The main idea of the novel is the friendship of two very different people. This book demonstrates the power of love and determination, and that this kind of power is stronger than mere skin color or race. After Philip and Timothy grow close and become best friends as they faced challenges and hardships together, he also learns a key important lesson from the man that changed his entire perspective on people that are of a different race or culture. Wanting to hear it from Timothy, I asked him why there were different colors of skin, white and black, brown and red, and he laughed back, "Why b'fessh different color, or flower b'different color? I true don' know, Phill-eep, but I true tink beneath d'skin is all d'same." (10.13) As Phillip's friend, guide and teacher, training the young boy for life, Timothy is the story’s most unselfish and self-sacrificing figure. He makes the critical sacrifice for Phillip during the great storm in the fifteenth chapter of the book. He sets an example as he willingly and voluntarily gives away his very life to protect the boy’s during the immense hurricane. After Timothy passes away saving the boy’s life, Phillip thanks God for giving Timothy to him: I didn't know what to say over the grave. I said, "Thank you, Timothy," and then turned my face to the sky. I said, "Take care of him, God, he was good to me." (16.5) Timothy breathed his last breath, leaving Phillip a now more independent and unprejudiced young boy. After living through and surviving the world on his own, Phillip acquires his own standpoint and perspective, standing apart from those of his parents or other external influences. He is in the end found, salvaged and reunited with his family, but his old narrow-mindedness and prejudicial attitudes have vanished forever. Racial prejudice is nothing but a hindrance, an impediment and encumbrance to great possibilities and potential of amity, unity, love and progress. It is an sinister ethical and societal malady that can lead to violence, bloodshed, abhorrence, inequity and oppression. It is an ancient, outdated and antediluvian way of thinking that is not able to keep up with the growing, progressing and an ever-changing world. Friendship between races and nationalities can be achieved and attained. Peace, good relations and harmony can be developed even when two people have little or nothing in common. We can learn from one another. This story offers a great life lesson that everyone can learn from. It is a lesson that teaches and promotes equality, impartiality and equal opportunity for all people, no matter what their race or skin color is, whether it is white, black, yellow, red or brown. Wherever they come from, no matter what kind of culture they grew up in, everyone is the same if we only choose to look deeper through the skin. The world has had a lengthy history of racial discrimination and it as proven the lesson learned from this children’s novel to be true. Throughout historical records, there has been many instances where racial prejudice brought about obliteration and destruction of peace and harmony. Human zoos were corrupting dishonorable injudicious public exhibits that did not promote anything good whatsoever. The Holocaust was an intense manifestation and demonstration of racism that killed about a million innocent people. Mass demonstration and riots against the African people and slave trade completely violated the civil and human rights of these people. On March 21, 1960 in Sharpeville, South Africa, police officers murdered student activists peacefully remonstrating in opposition to the apartheid rule, which was a policy in South Africa that was grounded on racial segregation. Lately, there has also been an amplification in racial cruelty between African immigrants. Anti-Jewish aggression, property demolition, and chauvinistic speech have been increasing over the last few years. In those previous times in the 20th century, the face of racial discrimination was principally black and white. At present, the face of racism has turned into a multi-colored and multicultural issue. On the other hand, while all these are happening, the movement for the destruction and removal of racial prejudice has promoted peace and brought a new sense of hope for prejudicial victims all over the world. There had been movements, social and political campaign against racism such as the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott campaign in Montgomery, Alabama, and the protests and rallies held by students in the sixties. The Selma March in 1965 that was led by Martin Luther King and the Voting Rights Act, which was signed off by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the same year were also some more examples of the different actions taken to destroy racial prejudice. With every noticeable step, the world needs to promote actual racial ceasefire, instead of just ignoring it and letting it destroy the lives of more and more people all over the world. In the beginning of The Cay, just before the first chapter begins, Theodore Taylor dedicates this heart-warming story, "To Dr. King's dream, which can only come true if the very young know and understand.” Martin Luther King, Jr. had a vision that people would be judged not by the color of their skin, but on the substance of their heart. Theodore Taylor opens up a parallel dream in The Cay. If people, both the young and old, start becoming aware and will take action to do something to change the condition of racial prejudice and discrimination, than we can all finally say that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream, the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of the entire world, will be fulfilled. The world is like a shaped diamond. It has numerous sides. It can be frightening, friendly, inspirational or isolating, but that depends on how we choose to look at it. We can focus on its razor-sharp and piercing hardness, but we can also focus on its beauty and brilliance. Works Cited Taylor, Theodore. The Cay. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday, 1969. Print. House, Terry. Focus On Reading. New York: Saddleback Educational Publishing, 2006. Print. "The Cay." eNotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. "Book Report: The Cay by Theodore Taylor." Evolution Writers. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. Read More