Representation of Various Faces of Shame in "Shame" by Dick Gregory

Shame is inevitable. It is something that everyone everywhere will encounter. The pathos short story “Shame” by esteemed author Dick Gregory emphasises the struggles, prejudice and discrimination held upon a black boy in a discoloured society. From a young age, Richard faces the stresses of poverty, constantly ridiculed and targeted because he stands out, indeed a victim of racism. Richard Gregory experiences the feeling of shame, which is highlighted in this story through the use of 3 instrumental characters: His teacher, his crush (Helene Tucker) and his father.

First and foremost, shame is showcased through his reaction to his teacher’s remarks of him. She deliberately disgraces him in front of his class and looks upon him with disdain. This is evident when the author writes: “I sat in the idiot’s seat and the teacher thought I was a troublemaker, Richard we know you don’t have a daddy; we are raising money for you and your kind”. When we are children, adults’ opinions matter deeply to us. Without a parental figure, Richard looks to his teacher for approval. The predicament that occurs that day at school alters his original vision of his teacher negatively and helps him realize that she thinks less of him. It is clear that he begins to understand how others perceive him. Richard is severely shamed because his teacher tells and treats him like he is something to be ashamed of. She is so overbearing that she chooses to undermine and disregard all the talents he has to offer.

Moreover, Richard encounters another type of shame when he is humiliated in front of Helene Tucker; a girl he cares about. This is especially painful because when talking about Helene, Gregory says: “Everyone’s got a Helene Tucker, a symbol of everything you want. That day, Helene Tucker turned around, her eyes full of tears, sorry for me. When I played the drums it was for Helene and when I stood on stage and heard applause, I wished Helene heard too”. Shame affects us when we realize that the people we care about feel sorry for us. In the story, it becomes apparent that Helene Tucker takes pity on Richard when she finds out that he does not have a father. Helene’s pity is agonizing because she represents everything that he wants. She is his only desire and symbolizes an intense motivation or a trophy. Richard is devastated, so he devotes parts of his life dedicating various key moments to her. Ultimately, the author brilliantly exhibits shame in this story as he connects it to the absence of Richard’s father in his life. It is believed that a child benefits greatly from a father figure as it helps the child grow to their fullest potential. His struggles are implied with the quotations: “I decided I was going to save my money from shining shoes and buy a daddy right then. No time for jokes, Richard. The world heard the teacher say – we all know you don’t have a daddy”. A childhood without a father bestowed a negative toll on Richard’s self- respect, pride and dignity as revealed in this story. Society automatically categorizes him and judges him. He is downgraded and regarded as unavailing. This shame impacts how he views himself. Richard suffers due to an issue out of his control but still makes him feel like he is missing a pivotal piece in his life.

In the end, Richard Gregory’s battle with shame causes him to question everything he does, including his everyday routines. He begins to regret and feel shame while doing regular actions like washing his clothes with ice or begging for leftovers from Mister Ben’s. It is clear that shame acts like a cankerworm eating into the fabrics of his life. The author’s message of shame is showcased in this story through the use of Richard’s teacher, Helene Tucker and his father.

Shame is an adornment of the young: An indignity of the old. In “Shame” by Dick Gregory, he writes of his early childhood. Which took place in St. Louis around the 1930s. The story he tells teaches a lesson through his narrative without ever stating what the lesson is. To teach this lesson he uses rhetorical devices to explain whether shame is a learned behavior, and they also convey what shame feels like. The rhetorical devices he uses are repetition, imagery, and details.

Gregory enlists the use of repetition in his story and utilizes repetition to explain his struggles of dealing with shame. In paragraph 5 he states, “Pregnant people get a weird taste. I was pregnant with poverty. Pregnant with dirt, and pregnant with smells that made people turn away. Pregnant with cold, and pregnant with shoes that were never bought for me. Pregnant with five other people in my bed, and no Daddy in the other room. Pregnant with hunger.” The repetitive use of pregnancy highlights all his struggles of having to grow up in poverty. By stating he’s pregnant shares his helplessness. He wanted to have an abortion. Not to get rid of his life but to have one worthwhile. Gregory couldn’t live a better lifestyle or the one he hoped to have due to poverty. He couldn’t be clean, have new shoes, or a decent home. By using this repetition, it has allowed Gregory to address his disgust towards his impoverished lifestyle.

Dick Gregory directs the use of imagery towards his first love, Helene Tucker. In the first paragraph, Gregory describes her as, “a light complexioned little girl. . .She was always clean and smart in school… . I loved her for her goodness, her cleanliness, and her popularity.” Gregory uses imagery to compare himself with Helene. He was not clean, smart, or popular as she was. The differences between them show their economic status. Gregory lived in poverty while Helene had

Shame is an adornment of the young: An indignity of the old. In “Shame” by Dick Gregory, he writes of his early childhood. Which took place in St. Louis around the 1930s. The story he tells teaches a lesson through his narrative without ever stating what the lesson is. To teach this lesson he uses rhetorical devices to explain whether shame is a learned behavior, and they also convey what shame feels like. The rhetorical devices he uses are repetition, imagery, and details.

Gregory enlists the use of repetition in his story and utilizes repetition to explain his struggles of dealing with shame. In paragraph 5 he states, “Pregnant people get a weird taste. I was pregnant with poverty. Pregnant with dirt, and pregnant with smells that made people turn away. Pregnant with cold, and pregnant with shoes that were never bought for me. Pregnant with five other people in my bed, and no Daddy in the other room. Pregnant with hunger.” The repetitive use of pregnancy highlights all his struggles of having to grow up in poverty. By stating he’s pregnant shares his helplessness. He wanted to have an abortion. Not to get rid of his life but to have one worthwhile. Gregory couldn’t live a better lifestyle or the one he hoped to have due to poverty. He couldn’t be clean, have new shoes, or a decent home. By using this repetition, it has allowed Gregory to address his disgust towards his impoverished lifestyle.

Dick Gregory directs the use of imagery towards his first love, Helene Tucker. In the first paragraph, Gregory describes her as, “a light complexioned little girl. . . She was always clean and smart in school… .I loved her for her goodness, her cleanliness, and her popularity.” Gregory uses imagery to compare himself with Helene. He was not clean, smart, or popular as she was. The differences between them show their economic status. Gregory lived in poverty while Helene had a nice home and a nice family that provided for her.

Gregory elaborates on his shame by using details. The details express how he faced shame not only at school but everywhere he went. Gregory wanted to donate the change in his pocket to the Community Chest at school. In paragraph 20 his teacher responds, “We are collecting this money for you and your kind, Richard Gregory. If your Daddy can give fifteen dollars, then you have no business being on the relief fund. . .We all know that you don’t have a Daddy. . .”. He began to cry as he realized the shame he felt for being in poverty. This detail emphasizes the shame Gregory learned that day as the teacher broadcasted that he did not have a Daddy; to what felt like the entire world. The humiliation of the event led him to express everything he ever felt shameful about. Gregory’s use of details effectively illustrates the shameful events that had happened in his past along, and the amount of shame he felt for growing up in poverty.

In “Shame” by Dick Gregory, he used three rhetorical devices to teach a lesson through his narrative, to explain whether shame is a learned behavior, and to convey what shame feels like. Repetition allowed Gregory to address his disgust with his impoverished lifestyle. The imagery was used to compare Gregory to Helene to help elaborate their difference in economic status. Details were utilized to show how the shame he felt began, and to illustrate the shameful events that he ever felt shame about. The lesson Gregory is trying to teach is that you shouldn’t feel shame from how you grew up and that if you know shame to unlearn it. Is shame is an adornment of the young and an indignity of the old?