"Prejudice"Racism and prejudice are themes that intertwine in the books The Garies and their Friends and The House Behind the Cedars. While prejudice is an opinion without adequate basis, which usually comes from ignorance, racism is a belief of superiority over a race because of prejudice. It also involves taking ones thoughts and turning them into actions. A person who is prejudice will hate another solely because they are different. The difference may be skin color, hair type, sex preference, or anything they don't understand. These people are ignorant; they jump to conclusions, and make negative assessments about people due to stereotypes. A racist is someone who truly believes that he or she is better then a person of another race and looks down upon other people because of their differences. Racism is manifested in many forms ranging from jokes, dirty looks, to not standing on line because a "nigger" is ringing up his groceries. In more extreme cases, people who believe that they are superior can act out their fears and insecurities with violence and terrorism. In the novel, The Garies and their Friends, some of the main themes were "racism" and "prejudice". Some examples of these themes being portrayed in the book would be George Stevens and his wife acting out upon the Garies, Clarence Garie owning slaves, Charlie not being able to get a job, and Birdie not wanting to marry Clarence. George Stevens, also known as "slippery George", was a racist. He had hated Garie just for marrying a white woman but it wasn't until he found out that they were related and that Garie would inherit money from a distant aunt, that he wished him dead. George had a mob of rioters attack the Garies' home and kill Clarence. Mrs. Stevens was a blatant racist. She had no resentments towards the Garies' untill she came to find out that Mrs. Garie was black. Once it was brought to her attention, she no longer wanted to associate wi...
