Good evening everybody. Ms.

Ánh just presented about one of three themes of

this story. Now, I will continue to present 2 more themes. They are RACISM and
STEREOTYPE.
racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and
capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a
particular race(1). Racism can also be defined as prejudice or animosity against
other races
OR Racism – the belief that some people are superior and others are inferior
based on racial, religious or national group.
The first occasion is when the narrator prejudges his cabin-mate, Mr. Kelada, by
his last name. The narrator decided that he would not like Mr. Kelada, but would
have liked him more if he had a more ‘English’ last name, such as Smith or Brown.
His heart (the narrator’s) sank upon hearing that name because he associated the
name with a particular region and subsequently referred to him as a Levantine.
Mr. Kelada tells the narrator from the beginning that he is English, however the
narrator ignores him and uses the term Levantine to refer to him. A Levantine is
someone from the eastern Mediterranean region comprising modern-day
Lebanon, Israel, and parts of Syria and Turkey (3). The narrator also imagined that
his cabin-mate would stink. This was clearly an example of racism because the
narrator held some animosity toward his cabin-mate based upon his name.

Secondly, the narrator displays his racism in his physical description of Max
Kelada. According to the narrator, Mr. Kelada was short and sturdy, had a hook
nose and liquid eyes. Mr. Kelada also had dark skin and long black hair that was
sleek and curly. This added to the narrator’s theory that this man was merely a
Middle Easterner attempting to pass as an Englishman. The narrator states that
"…a closer inspection of that British passport would have betrayed the fact that
Mr. Kelada was born under a bluer sky than is generally seen in England (p. 14)."
In other words, Mr. Kelada was born in a much more tropical region, namely the
Middle Eastern region, especially for him to have the "dark skin" that he
possessed. Just because Mr. Kelada had dark skin, it did not mean that he was not
born in England. His parents could have come to live in England and he could have
indeed been born there. Again the narrator is assuming that from his physical
features that maybe Mr. Kelada had a fake passport. The narrator shows his belief
that race determines human traits.
Lastly the narrator shows his racism by judging Mr. Kelada simply by calling him
Mr. Know-All. He dislikes Mr. Kelada because Mr. Kelada has something to say
about everyone and everything. Mr. Kelada had an answer for everything and he
seemed to know everyone. The narrator was agitated by this. According to the
first definition of racism stated above, race determines human capabilities.
Because Mr. Kelada was not an Englishman, he should not have known everything
that he knew. In fact, Mr. Kelada should have never opened his mouth if race
alone determined his capabilities because he was from a barbaric country where
there is no form of education, except for maybe religious education.

These are just three occasions where the narrator shows signs of being a racist.
The important thing to realize is that even thought the narrator displays outright
racism, this does not mean that this is the stance of the author. While Mustafah
may have been correct in calling the narrator racist, it is unclear that the author of
the short story is racist.
prejudices are unfavorable affective reactions to or evaluations of groups and
their members
stereotypes are generalized beliefs about groups and their members,
interpersonal
It has been said that “Mr. Know All” is a story about
stereotypes. he/she represents a
stereotype. The Narrator -
Even though we don’t know his name, it is clear throughout the story that
he is British. Not only that, but we understand that he is very proud of
being British. He acts like a snob. He points out that even tough Mr.
Kelada has a British passport- he was not born, in his opinion, in Britain,
but rather in the Middle East. He doesn't like Mr. Kelada and often refers
and tells us he has an oriental smile. He disliked Mr. Kelada even before
he met him, based on his name and appearance that simply didn’t sound
and look British enough to him.

However, after witnessing Mr. Kelada during the bet with Mr. Ramsay, how Mr.
Kelada
sacrificed his personal and professional reputation to help Mrs. Ramsay hide her
betrayal in her husband, the narrator realized that he was prejudiced against Mr.
Kelada. That he misjudged him. The narrator now realizes that Mr. Kelada acts as
a
true gentleman therefore he didn’t entirely dislike now, and so he smiled toward
him.

The writer brilliantly uses metaphor and personification which help to reveal the
main character’s nature. “Mr. Kelada was born under a bluer sky than is generally
seen in England” or “ It shone in her like a flower on a coat – (it was about
modesty)” or “Mrs. Ramsay was a very pretty little thing, with pleasant manners
and a sense of humor”. We can see that in the beginning author liked Mrs.
Ramsay. Of course he changed his mind later but here he again misunderstood a
person nature so we can make conclusion that there are two variants: The
narrator is not good in identification of a real substance of people or it`s not a
rare case when people seem in different for the first impression then they are
indeed. Just look what epithets the narrator use to describe Mr. Kelada: “Mr
Kelada was short and of a sturdy build, clean-shaven and dark-skinned, with a
fleshy hooked nose and very large, lustrous and liquid eyes”, “A row of flashing
teeth”. In addition the narrator doesn`t escape of the chance to put an irony, his
favourite device: “ He spoke with a fluency in which there was nothing English…”.

To force the impression of Mr. Kelda, to make the protogonist a bright example,
the narrator deals the final by hyperbole: “he ran everything, he was everywhere
and always”. And it wasn`t just opinion of the narrator but of everybody what
convienced by oxymoron: “the best hated man”. Mr. Kelada characterise himself
by antithesis: “You don`t think I look like an American, do you? British to the
backbone, that`s what I am”. So trying to be objective we can say that Mr. Kelada
is discrepant person like most of us. But nobody are to be judjed by the first sight.
Unfortunately it`s in our nature, prejudice is a way of a fast adaptation to new
circumstances but it`s in our power not to make withdrawals and not to judje
without complete comprehention of the person and the situation at all.

In my harmble opinion this is a story about culture, manners, first impressions,

values and – most importantly of all – prejudice. Prejudice arises because it is
human nature to stereotype new people we meet based on race or how they look
before getting to know them. The message of the story can perhaps best be
summed up in the proverb: You should not judge a book by its cover.
The writer brilliantly uses metaphor and personification which help to reveal the
main character’s nature. “Mr. Kelada was born under a bluer sky than is generally
seen in England” or “ It shone in her like a flower on a coat – (it was about
modesty)” or “Mrs. Ramsay was a very pretty little thing, with pleasant manners
and a sense of humor”. We can see that in the beginning author liked Mrs.
Ramsay. Of course he changed his mind later but here he again misunderstood a
person nature so we can make conclusion that there are two variants: The
narrator is not good in identification of a real substance of people or it`s not a
rare case when people seem in different for the first impression then they are
indeed. Just look what epithets the narrator use to describe Mr. Kelada: “Mr
Kelada was short and of a sturdy build, clean-shaven and dark-skinned, with a
fleshy hooked nose and very large, lustrous and liquid eyes”, “A row of flashing
teeth”. In addition the narrator doesn`t escape of the chance to put an irony, his
favourite device: “ He spoke with a fluency in which there was nothing English…”.

To force the impression of Mr. Kelda, to make the protogonist a bright example,
the narrator deals the final by hyperbole: “he ran everything, he was everywhere
and always”. And it wasn`t just opinion of the narrator but of everybody what
convienced by oxymoron: “the best hated man”. Mr. Kelada characterise himself
by antithesis: “You don`t think I look like an American, do you? British to the
backbone, that`s what I am”. So trying to be objective we can say that Mr. Kelada
is discrepant person like most of us. But nobody are to be judjed by the first sight.
Unfortunately it`s in our nature, prejudice is a way of a fast adaptation to new
circumstances but it`s in our power not to make withdrawals and not to judje
without complete comprehention of the person and the situation at all.

In my harmble opinion this is a story about culture, manners, first impressions,

values and – most importantly of all – prejudice. Prejudice arises because it is
human nature to stereotype new people we meet based on race or how they look
before getting to know them. The message of the story can perhaps best be
summed up in the proverb: You should not judge a book by its cover.