So What Are You, Anyway? by Lawrence Hill Analysis

People should know that they should never ask about others' race, cause it will make them feel experience oppression and it will be directing unrespect towards them. Because asking about race and color would be a too deep question for others to ask, which will make them think that they’re different from the community because of their color only, and for that reason, it will make them ashamed of themselves. In the short story, So What Are You, Anyways, written by Lawrence Hill, racial stereotypes cause insecurity, which is clearly evident in Carole’s feelings of alienation and Mrs. Norton’s lack of empathy towards Carole.

The story provides a perfect example of how a kid name is Carole gets hurt emotionally when an adult woman name Mrs. Norton is asking her racially questions about how she color her mother and father faces in the story. Carole perceives from Mrs. Norton’s questions that she is being racially stereotyped which made her feel she is alienated because after she didn’t answer her questions: “Carole feels ashamed at her stupidity. A tear races down her cheek"(Lawrence Hill 3). Carole feels very stupid, very stupid. This means if Carole wasn’t feeling that she is strange and different cause from Mrs. Norton’s questions, she wouldn’t be feeling like that. Determining the race of a person would be kind of distinguishing him from others which will cause annoyment and after Mrs.Norton made Carole answer her questions she Determines her race and says, “. “You’re a mulatto!”... You know what a mulatto is, don’t you? Haven’t your parents taught you that word?”...“Leave me alone!” she screams at Mrs. Norton (3). Carole feels alienated and got bullied because  Ms. Norton determines and confirmed the differentiation of her as a different and strange person than the community. Which annoys Carole. As a result, she burst out of anger. so If she didn’t feel annoyed from alienation she won’t get burst out of anger and shout at Mr. Norten. Mrs. Norton’s uncomfortable and racist questions make Carole feels alienated.

Mrs.Norton treats Carol in an unsympathetic way. Because she asks her questions older than her age by asking her, “When you say brown, do you mean he is a Negro?‘Yes’...So you’re mixed?” (Lawrence Hill 3). This shows that Mrs. Norton doesn’t treat Carole as a child that still young and doesn’t know about kinds of races but instead, she treated Carole in an unsympathetic way by asking her about her dad and mom’s races and asking her about word terms about what kind of race is she such as (mulatto). This means if Mrs. Norton treats Carole in a sympathetic way she wouldn’t be asking her questions that should not be asked to a child such as: is your father Nergo.Mrs.Norton treats Carol in an unsympathetic way. Because every time she asks Carole and Carole doesn’t know the answer, she forced her to answer her by asking her, “What color would you make his face? ‘Brown’And your mother? ...‘I don’t know.’ ‘Sure you do,’ Mrs. Norton says. How would you color your mother’s face? ‘Yellow’... Is your mother Chinese? Mr. Norton asks.‘No’ Are you sure you’d color her yellow? No. What else might you color her?”(3). This means that Mrs. Norton is unsympathetic because Since Carole did not answer Mrs. Norton’s questions Mrs.Norton forced her to answer her questions about her mother and father’s color by asking her in another way that forces Carole to answer and to determine her race and she kept ensuring that Carole knows her mother and father color even though she was confused and don’t answer her questions.