Revolt of the Evil Fairies”, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” and “Trifles” each have an invisible presence that is so prevalent that it could even be a character. "Revolt of the Evil Fairies" indirectly discusses the theme of racism, while "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" alludes to materialism and "Trifles" mentions the theme of sexism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayIn Ted Poston's "Rise of the Wicked Fairies," a young African-American boy is denied the role of Prince Charming in the school play. Not for lack of skill or talent, but for the color of his skin. Evidently, the invisible presence in this story is racism. While the narrator, a sixth grade student, talks about the show and the events that occur, the short story indirectly talks about racism and the fact that it is almost always swept under the rug and ignored. As in many other real-life situations, where no matter how hard he or another black person worked, "it was an accepted fact that lack of pigmentation was a definite advantage" (Poston). The play is ironically called "a modern morality play about the conflict between the forces of good and evil" by Miss LaPrade, while she and the other teachers discriminate against their students only based on skin color (Poston). After the narrator is denied the role of Prince Charming, he can see that “the teachers sensed my resentment. They were almost sorry,” (Poston). This means that they knew what they were doing was wrong but they didn't completely regret it. The play is interrupted by a fight between the narrator and the boy chosen to be Prince Charming. Eventually, the entire stage breaks out in a fight, resulting in the curtains being momentarily closed. Shortly thereafter, “they raised the curtain fifteen minutes later, and we finished the show” (Poston). This exemplifies how the issue of racism in society is addressed. When a problem arises, it is hidden until it calms down and can be forgotten again. Each of these points is relevant because, just like today, racism is usually ignored or accepted without question. “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by JD Salinger symbolically addresses the issue of materialism. There are two main symbols of materialism in this story: the greedy “banana fish” and sunburn. It begins with a phone call between a woman, Muriel, and her mother. The conversation constantly shifts from idle gossip to Seymour, Muriel's husband, and then quickly back to gossip. While the two can't distance themselves from the gossip for long, what Muriel's mother says strongly suggests that Seymour has a serious mental health problem. During the phone call it is important to note that Muriel states that she is “so tanned that she can hardly move” and Seymour is “pale” and “doesn't take off his bathrobe” (Salinger). Although it is clear that Seymour is not well, the severity of his illness is not due to the fact that Muriel does not seem the least bit worried. When they are about to hang up she says, "Call me as soon as he does, or says, anything funny - you know what I mean" to which Muriel replies, "Mom, I'm not afraid of Seymour" (Salinger). At the beach, a little girl named Sybil is doused in tanning oil by her mother. The action of the mother applying tanning oil, which will likely cause a burn, on her daughter represents how materialism is passed down almost naturally from our parents or the people we look up to. Sybil is innocent and allows her mother to use tanning oil onlybecause he doesn't know any better. She runs to the beach and finds Seymour, who tells her a story about the banana fish. Seymour says banana fish “lead a very tragic life,” “they swim in a hole where there are a lot of bananas. They look very ordinary when they swim in, but once inside they act like pigs. Why, I've known some bananafish swim in a banana pit and eat up to seventy-eight bananas" (Salinger). Bananafish represent people in society who start out ordinary and become materialistic. Sybil says she saw a bananafish, but he only had six bananas in his mouth. This banana fish represents Sybil: she is young and innocent for the time being, but she is becoming a materialistic person just as the tanning oil symbolized before. The two part ways and Seymour heads to his hotel room where he suddenly commits suicide next to his sleeping wife. At the beginning of the story it is obvious that Seymour Glass is psychologically damaged by the war, but as the story progresses it becomes clear that he is unable to cope with the materialism of society, among others. things perhaps unnamed. "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell revolves around the theme of sexism. A woman, Mrs. Wright, is jailed for killing her husband and while the sheriff and county attorney investigate her house, their wives solve it. accidentally commit the whole crime while "worrying about trifles" (Glaspell). The two wives, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, wait downstairs while the men investigate and begin discussing a quilt that Mrs. Wright had begun to piece together. Mrs. Hale says, "I wonder if he would have quilted it or just knotted it?" just as the men come down the stairs (Glaspell). The sheriff interrupts with "They wonder if he would have quilted it or just knotted it," to which the men laugh (Glaspell). This was an attempt to degrade the women who were only there to help. The men come out and Mrs. Hale continues examining the quilt, "Look at this," "Look at how you sew! Everything else was so nice and even. And look at this! It's all over the place!", "What do you think she was so nervous about?" ?" (Glaspel). Then they find an empty birdcage and a fancy box. After opening the box, Mrs. Hale finds a bird whose neck has been pulled, as Mr. Wright had done with a rope in his sleep. It is evident that the bird was special to Mrs. Wright and was murdered. The men interrupt again and Mrs. Hale hides the cock. This time it's the county attorney who decides to be rude to the two women: "Well, sir, have you decided whether you're going to have it quilted or knotted?" (Glaspel). They then leave once again to continue their investigation upstairs. With the men gone, Mrs. Hale continues the conversation about the bird, “[Mr.] Wright wouldn't like the bird – a thing that sang. He sang. He killed that too” (Glaspell). After marrying Mr. Wright, Mrs. Wright became so reclusive that her friend didn't even know about her pet bird and stopped singing. Mrs Hale says: “I could have known he needed help! I know how things can be: for women, I tell you, it's strange, Mrs. Peters. We live close and we live far. We all go through the same things – it's just a different kind of the same thing,” meaning that most, if not all, women experience some level of sexism throughout their lives. Men return to the kitchen for the third time with nothing new about the murder except the rope says the county attorney “at least we found out he wouldn't have quilted it for… what do you say, sir?” (Glaspel). This shows that even after three times, he didn't care either.