Hazel Deborah Parker Quotes

Filled with enraging power and full of confidence, Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker (also known as Squeaky), is a powerful young woman who cares for her brother, protecting him from bullies while focusing on her running career, which becomes our first impression of her. However she hides most of her true emotions inside, deep within her becoming a very close-minded person. Written by Toni Cade Bambara,” Raymond's Run” is a story which shows Hazel's change from the beginning to the end, showing how she changed as a person and how she resulted with her dark, depressed feelings that she never let on the outside, she never showed others. Her relationships with Gretchen, her family, and with bullies who tease Raymond, not caring about his feelings-- different on the outside than the inside. She shows different emotions--being confident, angry, and powerful on the outside, while she really is really depressed, annoyed, and emotional on the inside. The May Day Race is the next competition Hazel is determined to win one way or another. However, her nemesis, Gretchen has signed up too and they are now competing against each other. Hazel is working as hard as she can while she faces new challenges and obstacles everyday. One of her main problems is taking care of her disabled brother, Raymond- especially because he gets bullied everyday. Hazel also has to overthrow her sorrows to win, but she is doubtful that she can do it. Hazel does show her emotions throughout the story, but mostly it is in an indirect way-- she changes her thoughts and feelings she shows to the world, and introduces her feelings as we move along the story. Here are a few quotes and song lyrics from Sia’s song, ”Unstoppable”, that represent her becoming more open-minded about her feelings, showing the world the true Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker. This book represents her change throughout the story as she becomes more open with her true feelings. Although Hazel sets off a big first-impression of herself, showing off her confidence and anger, we see a different side of her as the story moves along, we see that she is not as open to the community as to what we first see. These three main quotes can relate to Sia’s song,”Unstoppable”, giving specific lyrics that connect with specific quotes that shows her not opening herself towards the world, and not being realistic about her feelings as well as how she covers these emotions. The song Unstoppable, is talking about how she will never let her feelings out and she is covering herself by using different responses that do not define the real Hazel Deborah Parker. “I know I've heard that to let your feelings show, is the only way to make friendships grow, but I'm too afraid now, yeah, yeah” is the first lyric of Sia’s song which can be in comparison to the feelings she feels inside. Hazel is too scared to tell Mary Louise about her true emotions, of how she feels when she does not hang out with herself anymore, ever since Gretchen came. “Mary Louise, who used to be a friend of mine when she first moved to Baltimore and got beat up by everybody till I took up for her on account of her mother and my mother used to sing in the same choir when they were young girls, but people ain’t grateful, so now she hangs out with the new girl Gretchen”(pg. 120-125 lines 200-201) This quote illustrates the hardship over her social …show more content…
In this case, it is Raymond against Rosie and Gretchen, protecting him from the dangers in front. She uses the weaknesses in her life, and turns them into strengths that will protect everyone she wants to protect. As a result, her masking emotions can be used for not only verbal events against frenemies, she also uses these emotions to boost up her confidence against people she advises to not talk to. She picks up the broken pieces, and turns them into one beautiful picture-- in this case, it represents her confidence. The quote from Sia’s song ”Yeah, I win every single game-- I'm unstoppable today”, defines this