Essay - In the Short Story, 'Betel Nut is Bad Magic for...

In the short story, "Betel Nut is Bad Magic For Airplanes," author John Kasaipwalova portrays ***** importance of civil rights and shows, through his characters and narrator, what an important part they play in civil society. The injustice the native people feel at t***** poin***** in hi***** is apparent in every part of this short story. Using situations and speaking with the voice of the ***** people ***** Papua New Guinea, ***** weaves an entertaining and message driven story about the quest for social justice.

From the very beginning, it is apparent ***** the story is about. In the second paragraph of the story, the narrator describes being harassed by a police officer at the airport.

Then for nothing somebody in a brown uni*****m w*****h c*****p like pilot, ***** wearing boots like dimdim and black belt, he comes up to one our people ***** he gives some Motu and English. Th***** one ***** people didn't understood. So soon that uniform man was redding his eye and rubbing ***** teeths just like white man's puppy dog.

***** ***** seems to be half amused with the situation. He also knows that *****re is something very wrong with the way he is *****ing treated by police. ***** ***** his friends do not understand what ***** big deal is. All t*****y are *****ing is chewing buwa and waiting for their luggage. Yet somehow, the police officer assumes ***** presence ***** going to offend ***** white people. T***** begins the journey to the *****ion of civil rights for native people, indeed, people every where. What right does ***** group, in this case, white people, have to exercise that kind of control over ano*****r group.

In the next couple of paragraphs, the narrator demands to know what law they are breaking, what they are doing that is so *****. They ***** not littering, or spitting on the ground. The narrat***** says to the police *****, "Bull *****, we are neither spitting nor throwing rubbish. Black people never made ***** law and ***** is black people's land. There's no such *****." The implication here is that the only people who can make ***** laws ***** the ***** who are ***** ***** the land. The white man's laws do not apply on then is***** where there are few if any white people. The rule is by majority consensus, and because the majority is black, than the ***** people get to make ***** *****s. Rule by consensus is a very ***** ***** ***** civil liberties, *****s well as is not having a small privileged group making all the rules for the broader population ***** follow.

That ***** not, however, ***** perspective of the ***** officers. They are enforcing the laws of the white *****. The narrator and a couple other university students decide to stand up for their rights.

Anyways, the security guards came to us. By now we three university students, we ***** ********** *****ge*****r and looking at them very proudly. Too l*****e now. We was not going