“Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara is about the story of a girl named Squeaky and her help with her brother Raymond. In the beginning, Squeaky introduces herself as being very fast and the fastest runner in the entire neighborhood. She also views Raymond as a nuisance and annoyance, so she doesn’t appreciate his uniqueness and abilities. Raymond is also disabled, and is autistic, doing strange things in public. Squeaky also has troubles with other people besides Raymond, like the bullies Gretchen, Mary Louise, and Rosie. Every year, there is also a program called May Day where there are races. Squeaky has been preparing, and is confident that she will win. Sure enough, when the race starts, Squeaky takes off and gets way ahead of everyone else. But, before the finish line, she looked over and saw Raymond running in his own way, and it inspired her. She wins the race, and gets appreciation and respect. From that, she decided to start coaching Raymond, and eventually figured out how to help him with running.
Acceptance can be both hard to accept and give, and through accepting others, one learns how to refuse acceptance too. Acceptance usually refers to the ability of one taking in or receiving something, and admiration refers to the esteem of an individual. In the story, Raymond is at first neglected and looked down on by Squeaky. Because he was both mentally and physically disabled, he didn’t get as much opportunities or respect as to what he would have gotten if he was normal and was able to do everything normally and correctly. But, in the end, Squeaky realizes him as an excellent runner and turns to helping and coaching him. She accepted him as a unique and distinctive individual and valued his abilities and thoughts. In some cases one can only choose to either accept someone or choose to refuse them. Although acceptance can refer to anyone, it is still most commonly used in terms of disabilities. When talking about the acceptance of someone with disabilities, it is possible to accept them. But, it is also possible to refuse to accept, which basically presents one from accepting someone else. It’s not only being refused, bullying can also be initiated with discrimination. Acceptance, which is the trait of approval, can have many impacts, even when inferring about disabilities.
Identity and reputation of one can strongly affect the results of different values, including pursuing perfection and also being accepted at the same time. Identity can show who one is, and with that comes the need to earn reputation, since its what one needs in order to pursue perfection and be accepted too. In the story, Raymond’s identity helped shape his reputation. Because of his identity of being disabled, people thought of him as useless and didn’t accept him. He also showed the identity of perseverance, and he didn’t stop even when people rejected him, so in the end, he pursued perfection and eventually gained the acceptance of Squeaky so she could coach him. Squeaky also showed different identities, where she pursued perfection in running by trying to win every race. Identity and reputation can show many things about someone, including the fact that everyone is trying to pursue perfection, no matter their disabilities or condition. Even though one may not have the physical or mental ability to achieve something, it doesn’t mean that they should give up and stop doing it. One can still pursue perfection and find a way to achieve their goals no matter what. Identity and reputation can influence someone’s idea and thoughts about pursuing perfection, as well as the value of being accepted at the same time.
Competition is a natural sign that gives one their reputation and also their proof of success through interpersonal relationships. Being competitive is shown in many ways, and it also works to give one their full resilience that shows success while also producing one’s reputation for others. In the story, Squeaky had been very competitive from the very beginning. She always wanted to win and knew that she was the fastest runner in the neighborhood. So, during the May Day program, the race was a very major and epic part of the climax. She was especially competitive with Gretchen, who was also fast, which caused them to compete and argue a lot. Although Squeaky didn’t make a great deal out of it, the reader can still tell that she wanted to do good and worked hard to run very fast, especially for the program where she knew she had to get first. Resilience and success can be shown in many ways, including sports. Since all sports need practice, that becomes one way that someone can show resilience using their own abilities. Interpersonal relationships are also connected to competition, like how girls like to show off and often pretend that they have talent to boast, instead of practicing and showing resilience. Rivalry and competition can be both good and bad signs about someone, and it shows a lot about their personality.
Maturity and growing up is a state that everyone goes through, and sometimes it can completely change one’s personality and understanding about something. Although in most cases maturity is simple step that helps one recognize something from a different viewpoint, ultimately changing how they interpret it. In the story, Squeaky changed a lot from her experience in Mayday and other experiences throughout the story. In the beginning, she always wants to compete and wanted to prove herself by winning all of the races. But in the end, Hazel realized that she no longer needed to prove herself. She also realized that she is capable and instead turned to helping her brother. She wanted to be more selfless and instead make others perfect instead of dominating everything herself because she knew she is the best and is capable of doing so. Maturity isn’t always easy to achieve or acquire, especially in times when one is capable and wants to win or be the best, since they want to achieve their goal while becoming more selfless and mature. Although the change in someone can be obvious or not so conspicuous, the effects can still be the same, and when the change is expresses, one will realize the importance and value of maturity and growing up, leading to change. Maturity can be expressed in many different ways, and it is not always known until one realizes the importance and the impact that being mature and growing up has.
Acceptance, competition, identity and reputation, and maturity and growing up are all important themes in the story “Raymond’s Run”. In the story, Raymond is at first neglected and looked down on by Squeaky. But because of his disabilities, he didn’t get as much opportunities. Still, in the end, Squeaky realizes him as an excellent runner and turns to helping and coaching him. Because of Raymond’s identity of being disabled, people thought of him as useless and didn’t accept him. He also showed the identity of perseverance, and he pursued perfection and eventually gained the acceptance of his sister. Squeaky also showed different identities, where she pursued perfection in running by trying to win every race. She had been very competitive from the beginning, and always wanted to win. She was especially competitive with Gretchen, who was also fast, which caused them to compete and argue a lot. Squeaky also changed a lot throughout the story. In the beginning, she always wants to compete and wanted to prove herself by winning all of the races. But in the end, she realized that she no longer needed to prove herself and that she is capable and instead turned to helping her brother.
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