yo why for heck is oskar like
i don’t know if anyone else is gonna pick up what im bout to lay down but... oskar is lowkey like racist and sexist? im sorry i just like why. There’s a couple of parts where he’s like blatantly admitting he sexist or racist? Like he just has these subtle undertones of this in his manner and speaking. And like did the author do that on purpose? Is the author just slightly sexist and racist? Am i reading too much into this? let me lay down some examples for ya.
EX. 1 “There was a lot of stuff that made me panicky, like suspension bridges, germs, airplanes, fireworks, Arab people on the subway (even though I’m not racist), Arab people in restaurants and coffee shops and other public places, scaffolding, sewers, and subway grates, bags without owners, shoes, people with mustaches, smoke, knots, tall building, turbans” (36)
okay i guess it’s given that he feels like this cuz of the whole 9/11 deal but that was one person. It doesn’t speak for the whole, and the kind of attitude that he shows here is a common attitude that people today have, like they’re legitimately scared of middle eastern people because of this stereotype that comes from 9/11. It’s wrong and i know oskar is nine but c’mon, like really? he’s like, “Im not racist but like im afraid of all arab people.” Like thats still racist bud. there’s also a part where he’s talking about being able to see the dots on a map in a different way if you squint your eyes, but he refers to it by saying “if you were extremely Chinese” like ???? okay thats... okay bye
EX.2 “I walked over to the art supply store, and I asked the woman at the door if I could speak to the manager, which is something Dad used to do when he had an important question. ‘What can I do for you’ she asked. ‘I need the manager,’ I said. She said, ‘I know. What can I do for you?’ ‘You’re incredibly beautiful,’ I told her, because she was fat, so I thought it would be an especially nice compliment, and also make her like me again, even though I was sexist. ‘Thanks,’ she said. I told her, “You could be a movie star.’”
okay once again, he acknowledges that what he’s doing isn’t really good, he says himself that he’s sexist. BUT THEen he just keeps on going???LIke this is rude too, he’s just complimenting her because he thinks it will make her want to help him not because he believes it’s true. I just i don’t know how to feel about this, there’s another part later on where he’s also remarking on the beauty of Abby Black and even asks her if he can kiss her. Like yes he’s nine, yes he’s going through a lot, and he’s got a lot of other stuff going on, but you still can’t deny these like subtly racist and sexist overtones in him.