Response to Berry Essay Example

for Crippled Children, which helps Berry to further relate to the paralyzed kids at the Home because he says “they couldn’t help it [either]” (182). Lastly, Milberry is blamed and then fired from the Home even though he was trying to save a crippled child from falling . While taking the paralyzed children down to the beach, Berry sees a crippled kid falling and tries to catch him, but in doing so, Berry drops the wheelchair with another child in it. This causes the child to fall out, which Berry is severely punished for letting happen.

Dr. Renfield does this when he tells Mrs.Osborn to “get rid of [the fool nigger]” (188). The fact that Berry’s race was brought up during the conversation shows that he was fired, in part, due to his race.

This points to the helplessness and state of paralysis that Berry is in as a result of his race. This is very similar to the helplessness of the crippled children at the Home. By being of a different color than the white workers of Dr. Renfield’s Summer Home in Langston Hughes’ Berry, Milberry Jones is helpless to stop himself from being taken advantage of by the other workers; however, this helplessness helps Berry relate to the paralyzed children at the Home.