Noughts and Crosses' essay ❌& ⭕️

In Marjorie Blackman's novel, noughts & Crosses we are introduced to a world with a
heavy racial divide. Our two main characters, Sephy who is a Cross and Callum who is a
nought, are on two different sides of this racial barrier. During a heated school riot, Sephy
calls a group of noughts along with Callum a blanker, a racial slur against the noughts. In
this essay, I will present reasons why Callum and Sephy are justified in their feelings.

The word Blanker is highly offensive and something that you shouldn't say to anybody.
But Sephy does, and Callum hears it. In chapter six of the novel, we see his inner
monologue after Sephy's outburst. He is distraught and hurt, he can't believe that she
would say something like that to him, after everything they had been through together.
He is completely justified in his response and I even consider that he could react more to
such an offensive word. But Sephy doesn't see it like that.

From Sephy's perspective, she has done no wrong. Being a rich Cross girl who hasn't been
exposed to the amount of oppression that the noughts face day to day. She doesn't know
what that word means, she only heard her father say it to one of his business colleagues,
so it must be ok. This naivety is shown in chapter eight when she says “Sticks and stones
Callum,” highlighting the fact that she is oblivious to his pain. But this is not her fault
completely, she truly didn't have and mal intentions and only wanted to stop the riot. But
that doesn't mean she is abstained from criticism. Together Sephy and Callum each have
reasons for their feelings, and we as the reader have reasons to criticize them both.

Callum has a right to feel hurt by Sephy but has to look at this situation from her point of
view. And Sephy should further educate herself on the treatment of noughts. In
conclusion, neither of them is truly justified and neither of them is truly wrong. Callum
has a right to feel angry, but so does Sephy.