Racial Prejudice Racial Discrimination In Graham Greene’s Novel Journey Without Maps

2.2 Racial Prejudice

In the Encyclopedia Americana 1991:545, we can find the definition of prejudice as follows: Prejudice is a negative attitude of a group of person who has some characteristics. It is common that is not shared by all people. Racial prejudice is based on simplified beliefs, called stereotypes. In a stereotype, a few characterics are accepted as a full description of any member of a minority, even though they group may be composed of millions of people with a wide variety of characterics. Stereotypes can be favorable, especially when they are applied to ones own group, but most of the group stereotypes are negative. Even positive traits can be given negative weight. The Jew is shrewd, the Yankee provident, the Jew is stingy, but the Calvinist frugal Ritcher, 1980:136. False definitions of individuals and groups are perpetuated by prejudice, It is really a negative attitude toward an entire category of people, often an ethnic or racial minority. It also means a categorical predisposition to like or dislike people for their or imagined social characteristics. Prejudice can lead us to make very different evaluations of the same behavior, depending on whether it is seen in members of our own group in- group or of another group against which are prejudiced out-group Universitas Sumatera Utara Prejudice can result from ethnocentrims – the tendency to assume thet ones culture and way of life superior to all others. Ethnocentric people judge other culture by the standards of their own group, which leads quite easily to prejudice against cultures viewed as inferior, Schejbal and Laurakas in Brands Ethnical Theory 1959:217 find out that A random sample of 439 undergraduates was questioned about relations between racial and ethnic groups on campus. While individual students differed on various responses. Both white and African American students tended to characterize relations with the other group as too distant. The same was true for African American and Asian Americans. In general, African American were the m ost likely to describe interactions with the other groups as separate and distant Hispanics were found to be least distant in their relationship with the other groups. One important and widespread form of prejudice is racism, the belief that one race is supreme than others who are innately inferior. When racism prevails in a society, members of subordinate groups generally experience prejudice, discrimination, and exploitation. Racism is the doctrins that some races are inherently inferior and some are inherently superior. In the colonial period, racial ideology served as a rationalization for the conquest, subjugation, exploitation, and brutalization excuse for both offical segregation and unofficial discrimination in the United States. Finnaly, racist ideology promotes belief in sharp divisions an boundaries. Universitas Sumatera Utara The attitude of the prejudice person often lead to discriminatory behavior, Discrimination is the proces of denying opportunities and equal right to individual and groups because of prejudice and other arbitrary reasons. Discrimination also means as an exclusion or exploitation on the basis of group membership. While sometimes intentional, discrimination may also be institutional; that is, caused by a product of the regular operation of social instutions which affects groups unequally. Prejudiced attitude should not be equated with discriminatory behavior. Although they both are not related., they are not identical, and either condition can be present without the other. Universitas Sumatera Utara CHAPTER III RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN GRAHAM GREENES JOURNEY WITHOUT MAPS Before I discuss the topic of the subject matter of the thesis, it is necessary for me to talk a little bit about morality. For racial discrimination is closely related with morality. The revelation of the point is intended to illuminate the path of morality as a body of reflection answering certain problems about moral action in the novel. When I discuss the racial discrimination in the novel, I do not mean that I propose a moral judgment. I only look on the novel from my point of view coincided with the views of those who are experts in the field. If I may say, it is the impression of the feelings or passions in my mind to find the very basic of the very particular moral attitudes of the people or actions that we always find around us. It becomes incresasingly clear that the novel is not only a story of right and wrong, but it is also a study of infinite subtlety of didactic pupose it is also a study of infinite subtlety of didactic purpose – it is a tale that teaches us how to behave well toward other people. To quote a definition of moral term is very Universitas Sumatera Utara important, at least to fundamentalize my analysis in order not to deviate from the familiar path. The New Encyclopedia Britanica points out that morality is … a standard of human behavior determined either subjuctively or objectively and based on what is considered ethically right or wrong. Vol.8:11 The meaning of the phrase ethically wrong is something to say that is precribed by God and will be punished by Him, or that is condemned by a certain community. Ethically right is of course, the opposite of the ethically wrong. I am going to discuss some important aspects which deal with the subjec matter of the thesis – racial discrimination,. They are, loyalty, honesty, and hospitality. There are, of course, some other aspects which can be discussed, such as kindness, oppresion, slavery, etc., but I believe that it will be sufficient if I only discuss these three aspects.

3.1 Loyalty