The main theme in The Test is a very disturbing one of racism. The United States of America is a clever place to set a story that’s theme covers racism because of America’s horrific history and racist past. Though there is not too many lines in the story that give away a theme of racism, one line establishes that Marian is black and Mrs Ericson is white. This line is when Marian is talking to Mrs Ericson and she says, “They probably like it better if a white person shows up with you.” Pg 115 Not only does this establish the colour of the main characters but it establishes the racist attitude of the American population in whole and is symbolic of the way America was during the civil war and the white population way of thinking even only back as far as 1940 when this story was set. Other lines that enforce the theme of racism are wh

The plot in the story starts off with Mrs Ericson having a high confidence in Marian and she expresses this through speech like, “You drive beautifully Marian.” Then after the driving inspectors have turned up and Mrs Ericson leaves the racism starts. Lines that include the words, “Swanee River,” and “Piccaninnies,” (Pg 116) we see the racism from the driving instructors. Marian gets so angry she yells at the driving instructor and therefore fails the test. The plot is straight forward, easy to follow and travels at a quick speed.

Some topics in this essay:
Ericson Pg, Marian Pg, United America, Piccaninnies Pg, Angelica Gibbs, Marian Ericson, Ericson Marian, driving instructor, Africa America, pg 116, , driving test, marian driving, pg 115, marian ericson, towards marian, 116 racism, pg 116 racism, marian driving instructor, positioned dislike, straight forward, “old flock piccaninnies, piccaninnies pg 116, marian talking ericson,