About Victims and Offenders

About Victims and Offenders

The short story “The Kind Of Light That Shines On Texas”, written by Reginald McKnight,

tells the story of  twelve-year-old Clint, a black boy who goes to school in Texas.

He is one of only three black children in class, who all but him have given up defending themselves against the constant bullying. One day he gets into a real fight with Oakley, a white boy. One day, the situation gets really tight as he insults the second black boy, Marvin, in his class. But in the end, Marvin surprisingly helps Clint defending himself against Oakley.

The story is told from a first person perspective, meaning that the reader knows Clint’s thoughts, but nobody else’s. Clint doesn’t change throughout the story, but the settings do.

In the end, there seems to be some kind of camaraderie between Clint and Ah-so, the black girl in his class: (…) For some reason, I turned to look at Ah-so, and just this once I let my eyes linger on her face. She had a very gentle looking face, really. That surprised me. She must have felt my eyes on her because she glanced up to me for a second and smiled, white teeth, downcast eyes. Such a pretty smile.”

Although Clint doesn’t always behave right, the reader still feels sympathetic towards for him. He regrets his mistakes as can be seen in the following scene, when Clint is at home and reflects the day and his mistake of dragging Marvin into his fight: “I kept trying to tell myself that I hadn’t meant it that way. That way.” In the end he has learned something about companionship from Marvin, something one wouldn’t expect to happen at all.

The story really makes you think about racism and, although I don’t think people have to face similar situations in today’s US (if you know better, just leave a comment!), it is still a great opportunity for everybody to get familiar with the topic. It’s just perfect for teenagers like me as it is quite easy to understand and everybody can follow Clint’s thoughts.