Written by Hugh(현.초5)/April 11, 2025
Discrimination and Prejudice : a Theme of the Book Small Steps
There is an African-American boy who committed a crime a few years ago and he gets released from the juvenile detention facility, Camp Green Lake. There is a girl who has cerebral palsy. They both are judged unfairly by the society. The book Small Steps, written by Louis Sachar, is a story of an African-American boy named Armpit and X-ray trying to do a crime: ticket scalping. By this, Armpit meets a celebrity named Kaira, and lots of accidents happen. In the novel, the author suggests that society tends to judge people based on their race, and disability.
To begin with, the author suggests that people often discriminate against others based on race through the experiences of the main character, Armpit. In chapter 13, Armpit’s classmate, Tatiana says that she will go to the concert with Armpit. However, her friends react with cruel comments. They say, “Armpit! Out of all those nasty, sweaty guys, he smelled the worst! He’ll probably put his big, fat, sweaty arm around you.”(89). They say that he is sweaty. That’s a stereotype only because their ethnicity and body color are different. They want Tatiana to stay away with him because he’s African-American. According to The Racial Politics Of Sweat, in some western society justified discrimination about that black people are sweaty. Also, in chapter 15, Ginny has a seizure while Armpit’s handcuffed. The police officer says, “He drugged that little girl” (105). The officer thinks that Armpit gave drugs to her because he’s black. Many of black people do crimes so the officer tried to make him go to jail by misunderstanding with lies. To add, the mayor says, “You think he’d sit in those seats if he knew they were counterfeit?” (105). The mayor protects Armpit because it would be unfair to arrest him. Armpit is getting discriminated only because he is black.
Furthermore, the author suggests that society judges people by their color, and disability through Armpit’s response to Detective Newberg. In chapter 20, detective Newberg comes to Armpit’s home and asks the name of the scammer. Armpit says, “Maybe part black, part Iranian. He said his name was Habib” (161). Habib is an Iranian name. Many people think that Iranians are criminals. Armpit tricks her to make believe him by talking a plausible name that is related to crime so maybe Newberg might be tricked because most of the Iranians are crimes. In addition, in chapter 3, the readers could know that Ginny, Armpit’s disabled friend is a target of discrimination. It says, “She had been born with cerebral palsy. A few neighborhood kids called her spaz, and retard” (20). Ginny is bullied simply because of her disability. These examples show that because of ethnicity and disability, people could be judged unfairly.
In conclusion, the author demonstrates that the public has stereotypes and discriminates based on skin color, and disability by the characters Armpit and Ginny, and an imaginary scammer named Habib. Stereotypes and discrimination are a serious problem in the world. Now it is the time to stop this happening and secure it.