She Shall Not Be Moved

Summary

The short story, "She Shall Not Be Moved" , is about a woman (who is also the narrator) and her daughter. They are in a bus and there are two white, middle-aged women on the bus too. The two women are sitting on the seats that are reserved for people with prams but when a Somali woman with a pram enters the bus, they ignore her. The narrator points out two empty seats to the two white women, but they ignore her and start a loud racist conversation. The black bus driver yells at the Somali woman because she is blocking the aisle. The narrator watches all this but she does not say anything. She can tell that her daughter is upset because she does not stand up for the Somali woman. When they leave the bus the narrator helps the Somali woman with her pram and she tells her to report the driver but the Somali woman just says that he is a slave and that she is not.

Characterization

The narrator is a woman who was raised to be a sensible and polite person who knows right from wrong and she tries to raise her own daughter, Mariam, the same way. She is adamant in teaching her daughter that she should stand up against wrongdoing. She has political posters and slogans all over her house.

The narrator is also a coward. She could have told the two middle-aged women to move in a louder manner when they did not move the first time, she could have told the bus driver off and she could have given her seat to the frail-looking woman, even if that resulted in her being thrown off the bus, but she did not for fear of being late to Mariam's dance lesson.

The narrator fought for her rights in her own country and because of that she had to flea and that probably made a bigger impression on her than what her mother taught her about speaking up against wrongdoing. That experience taught her that you only get in trouble if you speak up.