The short story “Raymond’s Run”, written by Toni Cade Bambara, talks about an African- American girl, Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker, known as “Squeaky”, being the fastest runner in the neighborhood in New York, and her relationship with her disabled brother, Raymond, who is prone to fits of fantasy and imaginations. Squeaky has no choice but plays the role of caregiver to her older brother Raymond since people think Raymond is intellectually weird and thus make fun of him. She is very protective of Raymond and willing to fight those who mock him. Squeaky is an accomplished runner and takes great pride in her running ability. In the fifty-yard dash competition, Squeaky particularly competes with another girl, Gretchen. When the race starts, Squeaky runs as fast as she would like she could fly. After the girls race against each other, they acknowledge each other with their sincere smiles as a worthwhile opponent. At the same time, Squeaky also sees her brother Raymond is running in his very own style. She begins to recognize Raymond’s running potential, rather than just someone she must protect. Raymond’s run not only impacts Squeaky's desire beyond winning but also helps Squeaky true to herself.
Competition with others is a means of achieving the reputation of being the best, while sports specifically shows the resilience and the success the athlete has achieved. Being excellent at things and entering competitions can make a person feel proud and accomplished. However, wasting a bunch of time on competitions isn’t ideal either. People need to find that competitions aren’t that important and there are other things to do. Squeaky, Cynthia, and Gretchen are all very competitive people. However, their ways of expressing their achievements vary and change. Cynthia is a very girly girl and often pretends to have talent, which means that she credited her impressive accomplishments on her own talent even though she doesn’t really have talent. Hazel relies on her practice and is willing to display her hard work in public. During the whole story, Squeaky is obsessed with her own running achievements, thinking she is the best of the best in the running field and no one could beat her. When Gretchen, whom Squeaky considers a worthy opponent in race competition, shows up, Squeaky puts all her concentration on her rivalry with Gretchen. This suggests that Squeaky is insecure and concerned because so much of her identity is based on her success as a runner. When the loudspeaker announces that Squeaky places the first and Gretchen places the second, Squeaky receives the respect from Gretchen with her nodding and smile to congratulate her winning, and Squeaky smiles back at Gretchen. Such mutual respect puts an end to their animosity and this makes Squeaky finally realize that having competitions isn’t as important as she thought. Competition, although exciting, is not very important; however, it can show how great people are and earn them a reputation.
Being headstrong and independent may be important, but many individuals just prefer to fit in and pretend to be perfect so that they could be accepted more. Often in a new society, people are seen as unusual and weird. To make up for that problem, people have two choices: either to be independent or to just fit in with society. Often the second is the case for many people. If people are just headstrong and independent, one day they think they will fall and people will finally get their way. Squeaky is a very headstrong and independent girl. However, this persona of toughness and fierceness is more of a defensive mechanism. Whenever people try to pick on Squeaky or Raymond, Squeaky has to defend Raymond. When she doesn’t successfully do so, she gets beat and her parents get mad. Her dissatisfaction with the city is that she cannot properly interact with nature, only with isolated parks that still feel like sidewalks. Squeaky is definitely annoyed by the presence being perfect for most girls at her age, like pretending to be a princess or flower or whatever it is. From Squeaky’s point of view, following traditional roles in the society is equivalent to letting her not to be her own self, and she wants no part in this. Her refusal to act like a girl is rooted in her strong sense of herself. She is very protective of Raymond. She unreservedly embraces herself being Raymond’s main caretaker. This suggests that Squeaky only rejects norms that don’t fit her very well. Squeaky reactions, to some degree, leads readers to think critically about the social expectations and decide for themselves whether being perfect would be true to one’s self. Being headstrong and independent is very important, but most people prefer to be fitting into society.
Maturing and growing up is a very long process, and often needs people to realize things. They need a lesson. People before may think one way, and after maturing they have another way of thinking so that it guides them to the right choice. People gain such philosophy from their own experiences, such as when somebody lied or did something wrong. Then people can learn from their own experiences and never do that again. This is mostly the process of human maturing because people often can learn from experiences. In the story, Hazel was very competitive from the start of the story and often told the reader about how she doesn’t care about what people say and just “knock you down right on the spot”. Although Cynthia and Gretchen and all the other girls are very competitive, they will probably find that competition isn’t that important and do some more meaningful actions, such as in the story, “Being people”. The realization that occurred to Hazel made Hazel realize that competition isn’t really important and begins to sympathize for Raymond, like how many medals he has got and how he is good at his running and breathing exercises. Before she was very competitive as an athlete at the May Day Races, and Gretchen was also very serious about running. Although Hazel still won, she recognized that Gretchen was a good runner, and also smiled toward her, and she smiled back. This shows the final respect between them. Hazel even planned to include Gretchen to help her train Raymond. Having a competitive spirit is good, but sometimes it can be a bit too much. Growing up through experience is a very great habit, and people need to know how to be a person.
Accepting others is a major skill, and while many people can do it, many don’t choose too because they are not willing to embrace new people and customs. People often have been accustomed to living a certain way of life. When there is a change, they are not used to it, therefore bully or discriminate against others. The victims of this bullying are often newcomers or old people that can’t adjust to the new world. People need to protect and show the world to these people. Hazel was originally from the country, and her family went from there to New York. She described the city as a concrete jungle, where everything is hard and urbanized. Also, she dreams of the country and how it provided comfort for her when she was unhappy. Also, her family resents her because of the humiliating performance of breathing exercises that she practices in public. She likes running because it offers her the ability to block out other people’s insults and opinions and become unabashed. Hazel is a very headstrong girl, but she also cares about other people’s opinions. Her family doesn’t like her because of all the breathing exercises that she performs in public. Her mother pretends she is somebody else and not Squeaky’s mother. People in the neighborhood also discriminate against Raymond, Hazel’s brother, because he has intellectual problems and is prone to fits of fantasy like being a circus performer and driving a mule team. Squeaky has to fend for Raymond also, and has to deal with Mary Louise, Gretchen, and Rosie because they constantly cause trouble for them. Most of all, her parents are not even supporting her. Accepting others can be hard, but it is possible and can be done if people actually tried.
The short story “Raymond’s Run” is a masterpiece that combines the four themes, including being headstrong and unique, maturing and realizing that competition isn’t that all important, competition can help people prove to be the best, and accepting others. Being headstrong and unique can prove yourself to be one of a kind, while fitting in society just makes you accepted. Being unique can help people with their later years. Obviously, Hazel is a girl that doesn’t really like social norms. She thinks they limit her ability to be free and be herself. While most girls practice at home, not willing to show their hard work, she publicly practices her breathing and running exercises, making her mom embarrassed. She also realizes that competition isn’t that important and she could actually have time to coach Raymond about running. She finally sympathized toward Raymond and didn’t really care about competitions anymore. Competition, although may not be the most important thing in life, can maybe prove that some people are better than others. Hazel has proved herself to be the fastest thing in the neighborhood. Accepting others may always be hard, but people should always try to accept new things.
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