Im Only Doing This so I Can Read an Article
The novel Bony by Bone written by Tony Johnston is about a young innocent boy named David Church who grows up with a racist father. Throughout the novel he learns about the troubles between skin colour, yet he makes friends with a African American named Malcolm. A theme in this story is that we choose who we are, not anyone else. The main example of this is between David and his father. Tony Johnston uses both language that lets us imagine it for ourselves, and setting that helps us understand the decisions of the characters.
With this the author achieves her goal of showing the innocence of David contrasting with his father. This theme is interesting because it is a timeless theme. In the novel this theme is shown by David going against his father’s wishes by treating African Americans with respect. For example when David brings a coloured friend in his home to protect him from KKK, even though his father had told him, “If he ever steps in this house, by God I’ll shoot him. ” In today’s times, a similar example is when organisations or governments help those less fortunate by sending food or setting up schools.
This theme is about doing the right thing and being yourself even though others may be in the way . Tony Johnston uses very descriptive imagery to strengthen this theme. She casts David as an innocent boy and so gives him a chirpy dialect. “He reminded me of Brer Rabbit, my favourite storybook character. ” The author then gives his father a blunt, harsh voice by saying things like, “He can’t be your friend… He’s a nigger. ” This contrast gives us the image that they are very different in personality.
Tony uses this contrast to enforce that the conflicts about their different perspectives are real and understandable, giving reason to David choosing against his father. The author also uses setting to establish background on their choices. This affects the theme because the novel is set in the 1950s so a lot of racism occurred. David chooses to be himself, a caring and innocent boy, and finds coloured people to be equal, “‘Whatcha doing? ’… ‘Giving Mr Swann Christmas dinner’”.
He lives in Tennessee, where white people are strict racist and black people are forced to live in certain areas, sit in certain areas, and go to church in certain areas. This setting helps give reason to why David chose to be himself. Tony Johnston achieves her purpose to show that only we can choose who we are. No one else can tell us what to do. Her success is due to effective imagery and a rich setting. This also makes it an altogether exciting novel to read. In real life we should learn to follow our own dreams and not let others control us.
