In the short essay Shame we learn about a young black boy, Dick Gregory, who learns the power of humiliation because he comes from a very poor family. Innocence ends when one is stripped of the delusion that one likes oneself, greatly explains the tragic childhood of Gregory up until the age of seven. Gregory never learned ahead of time that upper- class people look down upon the poor, and how others can be so full of hate and discrimination. At least, not as hateful towards him. Ignorance, on Gregorys behalf, was probably the main factor for his humiliation.
We learned early in the story that Gregory came from a poor family. Even though he was poor, he did not show he was ashamed of it. Although he didnt know why people turned their heads when they saw him. Gregory was very proud of his money-making schemes, but he didnt realize the work he was doing was very degrading. Another example of Gregorys ignorance is his attitude towards the teacher. When he explained about his seat in the class, it gave me the impression that he was very proud of it. Gregory then talks about how he thought that the teacher loved him.
Its a shame that he didnt realize everyone felt sorry Hill 2 for him. It was Gregorys ignorance that caused him to feel humility, but it was his teacher that made him realize it. As far as Gregory was concerned, the day of collection for the needy was his time to shine. In front of the whole class, including the girl of his dreams, he was going to lie and show how proud he was of his dad for donating a lot of money. With only a few words from his teacher, all of Gregorys innocence and high self-esteem was stripped from himself. All of the unrealistic thoughts hat Gregory had felt towards people were wiped away.
Gregory realized how ignorant he had been; thus, leaving this poor child with discrimination towards himself. In all of my days, I have never felt the humiliation Gregory had to encounter that day. Luckily for me, I had parents that explained to me the good and bad of society. I had always expected the humility brought on to me by others. Its a shame that Gregory is not alone in this world. Everyday people are being crushed from the antics of others. Hopefully one day people will learn to stop laughing at others and start trying to help them out.
