The Middle Children by Rayda Jacobs Essay Example

The Middle Children by Rayda Jacobs Essay Not black, not white. Living in constant fear. Have gone trough anxiety attacks, worrying and always expecting to have her shoulder tapped or name called. This is the price for becoming something. She’s a legal assistant, but to become such she has gone against the law. She did not get the ID to be white. She just wanted to become something. Why is that illegal? Is it okay to go against the law, when it is clearly unfair? Rayda Jacobs invites the reader to see a differ-ent way of living that rarely is brought to the daylight. The short story written by Rayda Jacobs opens with the lines: †Smartly dressed in knee-high boots, mini skirt, Beatles Jacket, and black beret, Sabah got off the buss at Mowbray station, and walked down the steps into the subway to the other side.† The attention of the reader is immediately captured as the establishment of character and setting is presented. Followed up by at description of the protagonist Sabah’s fear of getting caught and her observations of all the people in the morning rush. Sabah has light skin but as a coloured she cannot have a â€Å"white card† (ref. p. 24 l. 18). At age sixteen Sabah decides to acquire one to get into a business school, which wasn’t an opportunity for non-whites. Officials discover her fraud some years later and she is forced to emigrate after she was given an ultimatum. An ultimatum where she gets the choice to either go to prison or emigrate to Canada. We will write a custom essay sample on The Middle Children by Rayda Jacobs specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Middle Children by Rayda Jacobs specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Middle Children by Rayda Jacobs specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The 3rd person limited narrative point of view involves the reader and its attitude towards Sabah since she is the only one whose thoughts and mindset the reader gets to listen to. The society where this young coloured adult lives is described as a charade where only the same of her kind could understand the constant fear and nervousness she lives every single day. â€Å"(..) and one day someone would shout her name and the charade would end.† She knows that at some time someone will find out that she was in po