Summary
"Medallion" is a story about an engineering student by the name of Yohannes. At the beginning of the story, Yohannes takes a cab from the airport in Los Angeles. He has recently moved from Ethiopia to America to attend school. The driver is a man named Bobby. Bobby talks at length about life, telling Yohannes that his plan to just be a student is not enough to make a good living. Bobby is extremely confident and Yohannes defers to him, thinking he is very wise. Bobby tells him he should take a shift driving his cab. Bobby tells an elaborate story about working for the Lakers, but quitting because he felt that they were treating him like a token.
Yohannes calls Bobby after a semester at school and begins working as a cab driver, taking the car for the times when Bobby isn't on shift. Yohannes's financial situation grows increasingly dire. Bobby teaches Yohannes how to navigate the city. One day, they run into a woman named Susan with whom Bobby appears to be romantically involved. Susan tells him he owes her and then says to Yohannes that he should stay away from Bobby, because he will eventually "leave him hanging." Bobby says to ignore her, as they just have leftover problems from a soured relationship.
He then tells Yohannes that his primary objective should be to get a medallion, which allows him to buy his own cab and work whatever hours he wants. Bobby says it's expensive but he will help him get it all sorted out. Yohannes is hesitant at first, but eventually gives in to Bobby's convincing pitch. He continues working but feels that he is always behind in some way. He is eventually forced to cut back on his classes to keep up his hours driving the cab.
His parents express concern about his situation, but Yohannes tells them not to worry. They emphasize that LA is full of tricksters and scam artists. He disregards them. His school eventually revokes his scholarship and he is forced to drop out. Yohannes continues working for Bobby but remains optimistic about being able to make ends meet. Yohannes doesn't see Bobby for a little while.
Bobby doesn't bring the cab to him and Yohannes tries to track him down. He realizes he does not know where Bobby lives. He finds Bobby, eventually, at a cab stand. Yohannes gets in the back of the cab and he and Bobby talk. Bobby makes vague promises about getting his medallion, but it is clear he doesn't actually plan to help him. Yohannes tries to remain optimistic about his future in America.
The story "Sinkholes" is narrated by an elementary school boy who has a discomforting experience in class. It takes place in Florida during the 1970s. His teacher decides that, in order to teach them about hate speech, different people from different racial groups should write racial slurs on the board. She says that by saying or acknowledging a word, you take away its power. Eventually, it becomes apparent that the teacher wants the narrator, who is the only Black person in the class, to write a slur about Black people on the board. The narrator refuses and the situation becomes a standoff. The teacher argues with him and eventually writes it on the board herself, but then quickly erases it.
"The Case of the Missing Prime Minister" is an account of the disappearance of an Ethiopian political leader in the year 2036. The story is filled with redactions and goes backwards in time, starting after the prime minister has been missing for one hundred days and ending with the first day he is lost. The narrative chronicles the reason for his disappearance. At the end, it is revealed that he left because someone asked him an intense and pointed question during a parade and he was so injured by it that he fled.
Analysis
Opportunity is the main theme of "Medallion," as Yohannes comes to America in the hopes of seeking out a better life. He is excited about being a student and, later, becomes excited by the prospect of making money as a cab driver on the side. However, both of these opportunities quickly crumble before his eyes. School becomes increasingly difficult, as his scholarship amount is decreased and he has to cut back on classes to work. At the same time, he finds that Bobby is actually scamming him and has been pocketing the money he was supposedly putting toward his medallion. In these ways, the story shows how Yohannes's initial hopes of finding a more stable life in America are dashed and how these opportunities were oversold to him.
Immigration is another key theme in "Medallion." Yohannes knows little about the new world he encounters when he arrives in America. For this reason, Bobby's convincing speeches have a strong effect on Yohannes. When he arrives, Yohannes has faith that by working hard in school and at his job, he will succeed. What he soon discovers is that he slips further and further behind, despite working constantly. To make matters worse, Bobby is actually dishonest and clearly takes advantage of Yohannes's vulnerability and naivety. While Yohannes appears to remain optimistic by the story's end, the narrative suggests that he has been cruelly snared by Bobby's tricks and that he is actually in dire straits.
The story "Sinkholes" deals with racism. The narrator of the story describes his experience during a class about hate speech. The teacher, insisting that avoiding certain words gives them power, has students write slurs against their respective ethnic groups. The narrator feels increasingly uncomfortable, as it becomes clear that she wants him to write a slur against Black people on the board, as he is the only Black student in the class. The story emphasizes the way in which the teacher's behavior is both inappropriate and unkind. She wants to force him to write a particular word to take away its power, but in singling him out to write it she makes him feel uncomfortable and anxious. Effectively, she is making him feel reduced to a category in a similar way that the slur itself might.
Political oppression is an important theme in "The Case of the Missing Prime Minister." In the story, it is revealed that the prime minister has fled the country after being confronted at a parade with a pointed question. At the story's end, the narrator asks if an autocracy can truly be toppled by just a few words. What becomes apparent, from the prime minister's flight and the many redactions in the story, is that words are actually extremely powerful in this context. They do have the power to unseat political leaders, as they give a speaker the ability to criticize injustice. The story is a testament to this power, emphasizing how fragile this dictator became in the face of some harsh words.
These stories deal with the intersection of personal and political matters. Yohannes learns how hard it actually is to find good opportunities in America while "Sinkholes" uses an uncomfortable moment in class to highlight the burden on Black students in mostly white schools. "The Case of the Missing Prime Minister" explores the spectacle surrounding a prime minister who has vanished from the country, following a public rebuke of his politics at a parade. These stories reveal how the personal is always bound up in the political, as the social world of each is impacted by their respective current events.
