Chapter 1 of this novel presents two kids in high school, Calum and Sephy. Their society is believed to be separated in two, Noughts which are the Whites, and Crosses, which are the Blacks. These two have been friends since they could remember, but now that they go to the same school, things have changed.
Their society is very direct about how these two cultures should live, the Crosses are the ones in charge, and the Noughts are the ones who serve those who rule. And this is why their relationship is kept as a secret, who knows what they would do if someone was to find out about them, but then they did…
During this chapter Calum is excepted into Sephy’s School, Heath Croft. But because of the feud between these two cultures, on the First day of school, there was a riot. “No blanker’s in our school. No bankers in our school”, a statement shouted by the Crosses who attended the School. This is showing the conflict between Man and Society, Callum and the other Noughts against Society which is the White people. Only a few Noughts were let into the school because an exam was provided to keep most of them away.
Calum and Sephy’s relationship as impacted extremely. They came from two different cultures, but to the World, it was like two foreign countries. They couldn’t hang out at school without being talked about or told by a teacher to ‘stay with your own kind’.
The society that they live in had come to the point where when Sephy sat with the Noughts, she was beat up in the bathroom the next day. This is showing the conflict between Sephy and ‘her own kind’ just due to the fact that she sat with a different colour of people.
I feel that these opinions are unfair and that everyone should be treated equally because God created us as one, and humans in their world have created a reinforced image that everyone is forced to believe.
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