Through adventure and racial discrimination, we read about life as an African American during 1950s throughout the book The Gold Cadillac. It is 1950 and Wilma and Lois are in for a big surprise. Their father just bought them their very own Gold Cadillac. Back then, these cars were expensive and only rich people could afford them. All of their family and the neighborhood is happy and excited for them, that is, all but their mother. Instead of being delighted like everyone else, she is disappointed that her husband sold their one-year-old Mercury for a brand new Gold Cadillac. However, things take a turn when their father decides to drive down to Mississippi to visit their grandparents. It is dangerous for African Americans to be driving around during the 1950s because segregation is still in effect, especially in the south. Throughout the story, we explore the many themes in the story including family, racial discrimination, and happiness vs. money. The Gold Cadillac, a valuable novel, teaches us many of the most important lessons in our lives.
Racism is something many people of color faced in the past and something that people face even now. Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. Racism is what caused many damages and wars in the past US history. One of the cases that was most frequently brought up was African Americans vs. White people. This is represented throughout the story when the family travels to Mississippi. If the family was white, they wouldn’t have been stopped by the police while driving a Gold Cadillac. However, because they were black, they were stopped and accused of stealing the Cadillac. The Gold Cadillac in the story also has a symbolic meaning. The gold represents the wealth and status of the car to resemble the status of the whites over the blacks. This shows the unfair treatment to people of color back then. Even nowadays, there is still discrimination against people of color. A person should never be judged based on the color of the skin, but by the content of their character.
The connection and love between a family is valuable and important. A family by blood are people related to you by blood, marriage, or child-birth. Family is a topic brought over and over throughout the story in many different scenes. The Father loves his family, which is demonstrated when he buys a Gold Cadillac to surprise them. The Mother, though she demonstrates a negative attitude towards the Gold Cadillac, still truly loves her family. She shows this by insisting on coming with her husband when he decides to go to Mississippi. She knows the dangers and wants to protect her family. The family also has a close relationship with their relatives by supporting each other when they need it. When the Father decided to go to Mississippi, the whole family insisted on going. Maintaining a good family relationship helps keep your family united and strong. The glue that holds together is love. The most important part in a good family relationship is love. Loving your family and having a good connection with each other is what a true family member does.
One should never use money to try and buy happiness and health. Money, as many may think, can buy us items like good food, good clothes, and good toys. What money can’t buy is a good healthy body, love, and a happy life. These are things in life that we must find and hold on to. The richest man will die one day and no matter how much money he has, he won’t be able to live forever. What he can do is use money and put it into good purpose and live a happy life. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple died of Pancreatic Cancer even though he was a billionaire. Money can’t make you live longer. The Father buys a Gold Cadillac and tries to impress the family. He does a pretty good job of it, but the mother doesn’t think so. She is unhappy, therefore resulting in her husband selling the Cadillac for her to be happy again. When the Father first notices this, he brings her to a cafe but she still isn’t happy. Money can never make one completely happy and satisfied with life.
The Gold Cadillac, a story about the life of a family of African Americans during the 1950s teaches us many of the important parts of life that we usually don’t bother to think about. Racial discrimination is amongst one of them. Where we live, we may not experience it. However, not everywhere in the world is a utopia. There are places where people are judged because of their skin color. Family is also a topic strongly mentioned in the story. The strong bond between the family members helps keep them safe while traveling south to Mississippi. The value of money is also mentioned in the story. What money can and cannot do is shown when the mother isn’t happy with what the father did with the money. The Gold Cadillac, though short, teaches us the meanings and values in life.
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