QUOTES - QUOTATIONS AND ANALYSIS

(Continued)

Barbara observes that Cedric is comfortable in his new surroundings: he is ravenous in the manner in which he eats, unconcerned about what others would think at the moment. Others in the dining hall are equally comfortable - "effusive, chatty" - while she is "flat and elemental", out of place and unsure of where she stands.

For his part, Cedric is often unsure of where he stands as a young black man from the ghetto now attending an Ivy League university. During his orientation week, a dorm meeting on diversity seeks to emphasize ethnicity and race in a manner that makes Cedric uncomfortable. Having been asked at the start of this workshop to describe himself with one word, Cedric's resentment at this approach grows:

Why would anyone want to embrace being a victim, Cedric wonders. Even though he's probably the only true victim of circumstances in the room, being a victim is the last thing he'd want to celebrate. He looks down at the unmarked paper in his hand. One word? A thousand words wouldn't do justice to who he is, he decides, and crumples the scrap into a tiny ball. (177-178)

The question of victimhood is crucial to Cedric: despite his situation growing up and the............

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