Poor Black Little Fellow

CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY. THESIS STATEMENT: The Pembertons neglect Arnie’s basic needs for various reasons. All along years, white people have been discriminating black ones. That is why several black people, such as Martin Luther King, have been fighting for their right to be treated as equal to any other person of any other race. And even though white people have been simulating to accept them, they have been treated as if they were of a lower social class.

This is what happens with the main character of the short story entitled “Poor Little Black Fellow” by Langston Hughes, Arnie, who was adopted by The Pembertons, a white family. They neglected Arnie’s basic need for various reasons. The first reason why they disregard Arnie’s necessities is that they were used to live by their own. They had spent their marriage on loneliness. This is because they were unable to have children. And hence, they became accustomed to live alone.

As a result, they were incapable to take care of Arnie’s affective needs. For instance, they let him sleep in the garage and they allowed him to bring friends but not inside the house. All in all, these features are important to state that The Pembertons avoided Arnie’s needs. The second reason why The Pembertons paid no attention to Arnie’s requirements is that he did not belong to their family. He was son of The Pemberton’s lovely servants who had died and to whom The Pembertons loved very much. Therefore, they adopted Arnie as their “own”.

Nonetheless, they were unable to completely accept him and consequently, they had many prejudices against him. On the whole, these pieces of information contribute to state that The Pembertons took no notice of Arnie’s necessities. Finally, the fact that Arnie belonged to an Afro-American culture is the last reasons for The Pembertons’ carelessness. As he was black, The Pembertonss deep inside had prejudices against him. Apart from that, they adopted him just because they felt it was their religious duty.

And as a consequence, even though it was unintended, they behaved in a rude way towards him. All things considered are significant to assure that Arnie’s needs were ignored by The Pembertonss. To sum up, the fact that The Pemberton lived alone their whole life, that Arnie was not their son and that he was black contribute to the reasons why the family uncared for Arnie’s affective needs. Summarizing, taking into account these facts it can be affirmed that there were many causes why The Pembertons avoided Arnie’s affective requirements.