Racists

by Kunal Basu

Paperback: 224 pages

Publisher: Phoenix (May 1, 2007)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0753821508

ISBN-13: 978-0753821503

Is one race superior to another? Should we be thinking at all about superiority of one race over another? Aren’t we all born equal? If these are questions you ask, then Kunal Basu’s Racists is a book you will interesting.

For a start, the cover design has, on the top half, a Nautilus being held in the palms of a human hand. Then, the subtitle states: The ultimate experiment is about to begin. Together, these two entice the reader no end. On the back cover, the blurb teases further with the following text:

1855: To settle an argument that has raged inconclusively for decades, two scientists dream up an elaborate experiment. A pair of infants, one black, one white, are to be raised on an uninhabited island off the coast of Africa. They will be exposed to the dangers all around them, tended only by a young nurse whose muteness renders her incapable of influencing them in any way, for good or for bad.

What will be left, when the twelve years of the experiment are over? Which child will be master, and which one the slave?

Though it is a work of fiction, the plot is certainly original and makes the reader really think and question understood beliefs, new and old ideas and long-held principles. The experiment begins with a challenge in a letter from Belavoix to Bates, who are the two scientists behind the entire experiment. The idea put forward is this: What if we were to bring up two children in an isolated place. Each of a different race. …  

A perfect illustration of how much care the author has taken to explain scientific concepts, theories and ideologies can be gleaned from the beginning of the chapter called Tabula Rasa. The conversation between Sir Reginald Holmes and Bates lays bare the methodology of choosing a black boy and white girl. This is excellent use of dialogue and such attention to detail is much appreciated.

Racists succeeds in blending both the academic parts of a fascinating subject matter and effective story telling. The 'need to know' element, which is essential in any novel, was established very early on when a the characters suspect a defect in Norah, the nurse to the children, and Belavoix says as follows:

“Yes, I wonder what her defect is.” Belavoix fell silent, his eyes twinkled as he rose to leave. “That is the mystery far greater than the mystery of our experiment!”

Thereafter, the steady pace of the book is maintained throughout and keeps the reader reading till the very end.

One of the problems of Racists is that, sometimes, there are pages and pages of description. Nevertheless, some of it is good writing; for instance, the following is an unforgettable piece showing the feelings of the nurse.

She sits on the steps listening to the sea. The children are asleep in the dark cottage. The visitors have gone back to their camp; the kitchen table is bare again. Now her thoughts are deeper, barely rising to her still eyes. Not even a flicker. What does she think? Is it the evening’s ordeal, her mind running back over Bates’s words? Her ears still ringing … Is it guilt that feeds her mind? Does she reflect on her sins, the rules that she has broken? Does she mull over life on Arlinda, a life without games, living like a stranger with the children?

Or is it her other tragedy that occupies her, the one that is even older than the experiment? The thoughts that are at the very bottom of her heart, deeper than her guilt or the wounds of a scolding …

Which is the deeper, she thinks. The sea or the bottom of her heart?

Another example which shows the author’s gift with language is this:

Sitting up on her bed, she poked the dream with her finger, now ended but still floating around her like a vanishing cloud. She tried to stretch it, to look as far into it as possible to discover what had been there in the beginning.

In such a serious novel, the author has even managed a little bit of humour, especially from Belavoix, who says as follows:

“I’m saying, she’s ready. Ready to leave. But she knows she has to wait for six more years before she can be with me. That’s why she’s upset. Isn’t that so, Norah?” Belavoix waited as the whimpering grew, then slumped down at the table.

“You can’t blame her for crying. She’s English, after all. If she was French, she’d be dancing right now!”

This thought-provoking book is one that only a discerning reader, who takes the time to ponder the views put forward, will enjoy. He must be open minded enough to accept the theories and questioning of ideology; only then will he be able to appreciate the true beauty of Racists. Ultimately, the answer to all questions asked right at beginning of this review is in the statement made by Bates: “The ability of the civilised, the most civilised of all, to show the highest savagery – that’s the real proof of racial superiority. Nothing else will do.”

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