The Revolt of the Evil Fairies Response

            In Ted Poston’s “The Revolt of the Evil Fairies” a young boy is being treated differently from his peers because of his darker complexion. The reader must consider how unfair it is to be judged by the color of one’s skin, and how hard it must have been when having the specific torment of being a child and experiencing something as discriminating as that within your own race.

            The narrator of the story, a young African – American boy, is a very intelligent person, maybe the most intelligent in the entire school. In a part of the story he describes the pain of being darker skinned than many of his peers, who are favored because their skin tone is slightly lighter. “ And therein lay my personal tragedy. I made the best grades in my class, I was the leading debater, and the scion of a respected family in the community. But I could never be Prince Charming, because I was black.” (Page 30) in this part of the story the main character is indignant about being overlooked and ignored because of his dark skin color.

            The main character doesn’t give up hope on being treated equally, but for now, he accepts the fact that he is treated unfairly and that there is nothing he can do or say that would change the depressing truth. In the following quote, the narrator is realizing how racism doesn’t just affect him, but other people with darker skin. “Not that I was alone in my disappointment. Many of my classmates felt it too. I probably just took it more to heart. Rat Jointer, for instance, could rationalize the situation. Rat was not only black; he lived on Billy Goat Hill. But Rat summed the situation up like this: “If you black, you black.” (Page 30) The narrator eventually comes to terms with Rat’s statement, and by the end of the story, he accepts his darker skin. “They wouldn’t let me appear in the grand dramatic offering at all next year. But I didn’t care. I couldn’t have been Prince Charming anyway.”

            The narrator is a good, honest person, but he still demonstrates his opinion against the prejudice of being rejected because of the color of his skin. Halfway into the story, The main character auditions for the lead role in his school’s play. The teachers dismiss him, and in his place a terrible actor is given the part. “Yet I was inconsolable the first time they turned me down for Prince Charming. That was the year they picked Roger Jackson. Roger was not only dumb; he stuttered. But he was light enough to pass for white, and that was apparently sufficient.” (Page 31) I chose this quote because it explains how people were only judged by their skin and not by their personality, or for their abilities. It also shows how the protagonist is infuriated by the discrimination of skin color and how he doesn’t accept it. Even the teachers were discriminating by showing how they didn’t care about talent; only about a person’s skin color.

            In the beginning of the story, the main character is hopeful that he will receive the part, but nearing the end, he gives up; knowing that he did all he could to prove his point about the unfairness and injustice of discrimination. “They rang the curtain back up fifteen minutes later, and we finished the play. I lay down and expired according to my specifications but Prince Charming will probably remember my sneering corpse to his dying day.”