Question

SAM: . . . They’d phoned for your Mom, but you were the only one at home. And do you remember how we did it? You went in first by yourself to ask permission for me to go into the bar. Then I loaded him on to my back like a baby and carried him back to the boarding house with you following behind carrying his crutches. (Shaking his head as he remembers.) A crowded Main Street with all the people watching a little white boy following his drunk father on a n*gger’s back! P. 36
According to this passage, what does this interaction say about Port Elizabeth, South Africa?

It is a modern town filled with crime.
Whites are overly concerned with appearances.
Blacks did all the work.
It is racially segregated town.

Answer 1

Answer:

D) It is a racially segregated town.

Explanation:

The passage says nothing about crime so A is incorrect.

A concern with appearance may manifest as embarassment or pride. Neither of those nor any other emotion regarding appearance is included in the text; the last sentence of the passage is straightforward and without description of why "the people" were watching or how the "little white boy" felt about it. So B is incorrect.

The "white boy following his drunk father on a n*gger's back" is only one instance of a black person doing "all the work." You cannot assume whether this happens often simply by reading this passage, so C is incorrect.

Firstly, the use of the n-word implies that this passage was written about a time when racism was highly prevalent and still accepted. Secondly, the "white boy" has to go into the bar first by himself to ask "permission for me to go into the bar," "me" being the narrator, who is black, which we can tell because the narrator says that he "loaded [the drunk father] on to my back" and the drunk father is later described to be "on a n*gger's back." The combination of the racial slur with the asking for permission to go into the bar and the carrying of the drunk father all directly imply racial segregation in the town. So, D is correct.