The story “The Gold Cadillac”, written by Mildred D. Taylor describes what an African American girl, Lois, and her family had experienced with their brand new car, The Gold Cadillac 1950 Coupe deVille. Lois’s father was very proud that he purchased the new car because normally only the rich have the ability to afford it; therefore, he wanted to take it for a ride south into Mississippi to visit Lois’s grandparents. Everyone was happy, except the mother. It was a dangerous trip for African Americans to drive around, especially driving a new car to the south because there were still severe racial segregations there. The mother’s worries were right: They were pulled down by a couple of white police officers, and Lois’s father was taken to jail because he was mistaken to steal the car. Soon he got released after paying the ticket, even though he did nothing wrong. Their trip with The Gold Cadillac shows many issues to be discussed, including racial discrimination, family and the value of money.
Racial discrimination involves treating people unfairly based on the color of their skin, leading to racial segregation; this is especially true for African Americans because of the white’s prejudice. The established Jim Crow Laws kept whites and African Americans separated in public facilities and equipment. Colored people were treated mistakenly for most of the time. When the white officers saw the Gold Cadillac, they ordered Lois’s father to pull the car over and asked him some questions. They did not believe a word of what Lois’s father said and mistakenly considered he stole the car, so they sent him to jail. Also, many signs on the highways saying “Whites Only”, the effects of segregation laws. It is a very wrong accusation of Lois’s father stealing the car, The Gold Cadillac, just because he was a colored person who happened to drive a only-white-people-use car. Even though he had done nothing wrong, he still got accused because of racism. Such accusation leaves negative impacts on the little girl Lois’ mind, fearing the threats from the white. She states “ I wouldn’t soon forget either the ride we had taken south in it. I wouldn't soon forget the signs, the policemen, and my fear.” The treatment of African Americans was very unfair and their children were living in fear. Even though now there is no racial segregation by law anymore, racism still exists. Racial discrimination impacted African American people greatly in the past and even now. To devalue racism and prejudice, everyone should do something, like showing respect, to ensure fair treatment to colored people.
The strong relationship among family members is unbreakable, and often family members will sacrifice for each other’s well-being. When family members notice others are suffering or in a life-or-death situation, they will try their every power to relieve the pain caused by the suffering. Lois had been very shaken up after the encounter with the policemen in Mississippi. Lois was very afraid the policemen would come again to take her father away. Thus, she took out a long sharp knife in the picnic basket and stayed up part of the night to guard her father. This suggests that Lois was very caring toward her father and she thought at any cost she must protect her father, even though she was just a little girl. When a family loved one encounters difficulties or threats, people would naturally show care and patience toward family members. Parents, grandparents, or children would do whatever they could take to protect their loved one at different points in the life course. The close family transcends every other interests in life and family members will always watch out for each other no matter how bad the conditions would be.
Expensive products or money don’t equal happiness; instead, sometimes they may bring people terrible things and then cause people depression. Money is essential, only to a point, for everyone since it could let people buy daily necessities or pay living expenses. However, people cannot use money to purchase love, happiness, support, or friendship, something people need to maintain their emotional well-being. Lois’s father bought a luxury Gold Cadillac with pride but mother was not happy with it and thought the old car, Mercury, was “perfectly good”. Also, Lois’s family were unhappy with The Gold Cadillac driving around Mississippi, as they were pulled down by the police and treated unfairly. The Gold Cadillac clearly explains money cannot bring happiness and money could even bring disaster. Having a great amount of money isn’t everything although money could make people temporarily happy. But true happiness comes from experiences and the joy of living. Everyone comes to the world without money, and it is also true when leaving the world. Obviously, money is not everything, but what people could do is to make good use of money for good purposes. Money can only provide people with temporary happiness but money would never bring lasting happiness to their lives.
The story “The Gold Cadillac” was an eye-opening story for me. It had racism, the bonds of the family, and that maybe even though people are very rich they may not be happy. Racism affected many African Americans. White people did not like African Americans, and thus made segregation laws. These made whites and African Americans separated. The strong bonds between family members made Lois and her family stick together and protect each other. The uncles and aunts also tried to talk Lois’s father out of driving to Mississippi. They did this out of care. Money does not always result in happiness. Even though Lois’s father bought a really fancy car, they weren’t exactly happy, as they had met some problems along the way. This story, although it is very short, teaches many valuable themes.
Comments