Reading Inquiry: How are minorities portrayed in books?

      In The Westing Game, there are several different minorities portrayed in different ways. The story is about some people who are invited to play the Westing Game, a game found in the will of a rich relative. One minority shown are children. Because Turtle, the daughter of one of the players, is a child, she is treated worse by her mother. This is because she is the second child, after her perfect sister, Angela. Turtle gets a room the size of a closet and gets the clues that are given to her for the game taken by her sister. Children, in this case, are portrayed as not fully respected and sometimes taken advantage of. However, Turtle knows how to defend herself, mostly by kicking people in the shin. In this way, children are shown to be able to protect and defend theirselves.

      Another minority shown in this book are African Americans. Judge J.J. Ford is a judge, the first black judge in the court she works for. She is very smart, able, and is one of the most sensible people in the book. I think this shows that the author is completely against segregation or anything along those lines (this book was written in the seventies.) African Americans in this book are portrayed very well, in a way that tells that race does not dictate ability.

      Finally, the "perfect" young woman is a third minority shown in the book. Angela, Turtle's sister, is her mother's favorite, engaged to a medical intern, and never does anything that might go against her mother's wishes. At least, until she bombs the apartment. The fact that Angela is often refered to as a pretty, sweet, young "thing" shows that women are (or were) considered more as pleasant things to have around than as people. However, the fact that Angela bombs the apartments, and then herself to throw people off her track, suggests that the author thought, similarly to the previous paragraph, that gender does not dictate ability.