Published Revolt of the Evil faries

Revolt of the Evil Fairies           Lucie Pascarosa            705


   In Ted Poston’s Revolt of the Evil Fairies, the protagonist shows determination in the face of racism and discrimination, even when the odds are against him. He is a black boy living in the 1940’s or 50’s. He is aware that he lives in a prejudiced world because of the racism in his own colored school. He shows his awareness by fighting (literally) to get the part he wants, and to accept the sad fact that he couldn’t be Prince Charming in the school play that year, the year before, the year before that, and all the years that he would (or wouldn’t) be in the play.

   First of all, the protagonist tries out for the part of Prince Charming with all his heart even though he knows that he won’t get it because of his dark skin tone. The protagonist has been rejected each season for the school play because he is not as light skinned as some of his school mates. he has always been chosen to play the head Evil Fairy, who was always vanquished by Prince Charming in the end. In the text it says ”The good fairies wore white costumes and the evil fairies black.” also, “The good fairies usually turned out to be light in complexion” and “On a rare occasion, a dark skinned girl might be lucky enough to be a good fairy, but not one with a speaking part.” But even when the protagonist knows he can’t get the part, he still tries, and when he doesn’t, he plays the part of the evil fairy thoroughly, and well. This shows that the protagonist is really eager for the part of Prince Charming, and is willing to go crazy to get that part.
Second of all, he has a huge crush on a girl named Sarah Williams, who, no surprise, was a yaller. One year, Sarah was chosen to be Sleeping Beauty, and the protagonist tried ever so hard to get the part of Prince Charming. As you might have guessed, he did not get the part. A boy named Leonardius Wright got the part, he was also a yaller, and liked Sarah Williams. In the text, the protagonist said, ”They gave the part to Leonardius right. Leonardius, of course, was a yaller” he also said in the text that he “threw his soul into the part” and did indeed play the head evil fairy well. That proves that even though he knew he was “doomed from the start,” he still tried to do well in the play. It also proves that he knew he could be just as good if not better in the play than Leonardius even if he isn’t playing Prince Charming.

   Lastly, in “Revolt of the Evil Fairies,” the protagonist shows determination in the face of racism and discrimination in the third act of the play, when Leonardius Wright was chosen for Prince Charming, and when Sarah Williams was chosen for Sleeping Beauty. In the second act, Leonardius brained the protagonist with his sword when he ‘’slunk off into the shadows” for the second to last time. He took this as an insult, or as Leonardius saying that he was better than him, because he was lighter skinned. He was determined to show Leonardius up, and punched him in the jaw. All of a sudden, there was a huge fight happening on stage between the protagonist and leonardius, and . In the text it says ”For the minute I saw that evil gleam in his eye-or was it my own?— I cut loose with a right to the chin,” I think he fought Leonardius because he wanted to prove that he could still do something, even though society said he couldn’t be a star in the play or, have a better life in the community. He proved that he could do something to show that discrimination isn’t right.

   All in all, this is why the protagonist in Ted Poston’s “Revolt of the Evil Fairies” shows determination in the face of discrimination, even when the odds are against him. Because he, unlike others, still tried to be prince charming again, and again, and again, and finally found some closure, even if he still thought his racist community and country was unfair ( it was very), and knew that he could never be Prince Charming.