In "Raymond's Run," what is Squeaky "all about" after the race?

In the beginning of the story, Squeaky, the narrator of Toni Cade Bambara's short story "Raymond's Run," states that all she has to do in life is mind her brother Raymond. She does not have a lot of chores, like other girls. She does not have to hustle like her other brother, George. Anything else that has to get done, Squeaky says, her father does. Squeaky's brother Raymond is mentally challenged, and the job of taking care of him often interferes with Squeaky's passion—running. 

"And as anybody can tell you, tell you, I’m the fastest thing on two feet. There is no track meet that I don’t win the first-place medal. I used to win the twenty-yard dash when I was a little kid in kindergarten. Nowadays, it’s the fifty yard dash. And tomorrow I’m subject to run the quarter-meter relay all by myself and come in first, second, and third. The big kids call me Mercury cause I’m the swiftest thing in the neighborhood."

During the race, Squeaky sees something that changes her perspective on what is important. She is completely focused on the race, mentally and physically. She is keeping an eye on her biggest competition, Gretchen, when she sees her brother on the other side of the fence doing something she'd never seen him do before: 

"To the right, a blurred Gretchen, who’s got her chin jutting out as if it would win the race all by itself. And on the other side of the fence is Raymond with his arms down to his side and the palms tucked up behind him, running in his very own style, and it’s the first time I ever saw that and I almost stop to watch my brother Raymond on his first run. But the white ribbon is bouncing toward me and I tear past it, racing into the distance till my feet with a mind of their own start digging up footfuls of dirt and brake me short. Then all the kids standing on the side pile on me, banging me on the back and slapping my head with their May Day programs, for I have won again and everybody on 151st Street can walk tall for another year."

Though Squeaky believes she has won, the race is actually so close that it takes the officials a few minutes to declare the winner. While waiting, Squeaky sees Raymond climb the fence to get to her and notices, seemingly for the first time, what great athletic prowess Raymond has. An idea forms in Squeaky's mind—she will train Raymond and make him her champion. She has found a new purpose in life and it does not even matter to her if she lost the race. With this newfound purpose, Squeaky's world expands, and she is able to look at Gretchen (who did come in second place) with the respect due to a worthy adversary. She even wonders to herself if Gretchen might like to help her train Raymond. Squeaky has decided to give herself to develop her brother's talents, rather than seeing him as merely a burden. 

At the beginning of the story, Squeaky runs for herself.  It brings her pleasure and a sense of pride. You can hear this when she describes the joy of running as she narrates the story.

However, as the story continues, Squeaky spends more and more time with her brother Raymond who has special needs.  Running is not the same for her because she must watch out for her brother, and this distresses her; it holds her back.

However, by the end of the story, Squeaky comes out of herself and her running surrounds the experiences of her brother Raymond and what running means to him.

This is a story that speaks to growing up, to becoming more responsible, doing that which we may not want to do, giving of ourselves for the good of others, and being gracious about it. It becomes a matter of caring for someone else rather than looking for pleasure and success for what we can accomplish on our own.  It is about taking pleasure in helping someone else accomplish something important, and believing that that is the greatest reward.

What actions does Raymond take before and during Squeaky's race in "Raymond's Run"?

 Raymond is right next to Squeaky on the other side of the fence, and runs next to her in the race keeping up with her.

Raymond is Squeaky’s brother.  She spends most of her life taking care of him.  She cares very deeply about him, even though it isn’t easy.  Raymond is special.

Sometimes I slip and say my little brother Raymond. But as any fool can see he’s much bigger and he’s older too. But a lot of people call him my little brother cause he needs looking after cause he’s not quite right.

Raymond is “subject to fits of fantasy.”  This means that he has a big imagination, and because he has a younger mental age due to his handicap, does not have the social filter to know that people will see his behavior as strange. Because of this, Squeaky often finds herself defending him when other kids make fun of him.

What matters to Squeaky more than anything is running.  She wants to win the race, because her self-worth is tied up in the achievement.  She does not have many friends because all of her time is spent with Raymond and her people skills are sort of lacking.  She spends all of her time with Raymond, and since she spends all of her time practicing running, he soon gets good at it too.

I never walk if I can trot, and shame on Raymond if he can’t keep up. But of course he does, cause if he hangs back someone’s liable to walk up to him and get smart, or take his allowance from him, or ask him where he got that great big pumpkin head.

On the day of the race, Raymond also sticks closely by Squeaky.  It is what she has taught him to do, and it is what he does for survival.  He cannot be there in the race with her, so he does the next best thing—he stays right there on the other side of the fence next to her.

Then as I get into place I see that ole Raymond is on line on the other side of the fence, bending down with his fingers on the ground just like he knew what he was doing.

During the race, as Squeaky is running her heart out, she notices that Raymond is running too.  It is his first race.  He is not in the race, officially, but he is.  He is running with her.  She realizes that he is face, and she decides that he has a real skill, something that no one can take away from him.  She is proud of him. 

Squeaky decides that day that she can coach Raymond to be a runner.  She feels that other people might see him as a person and not as strange, when they see he has a talent.  She also sees something that she can have in common with him and share with him.

What four events shape Squeaky's view of competition in "Raymond's Run"?

Four events that contribute to the way Squeaky views competition in Toni Cade Bambara's short story "Raymond's Run" are her encounter with Gretchen and her friends on the street, her encounter with Mr. Pearson before the race, when she sees Raymond run for the first time, and her exchange with Gretchen after the race is over.

The first exchange happens when Squeaky, whose real name is Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker, is walking down the street with her mentally challenged brother while practicing her breathing exercises for the upcoming race. Squeaky mentions that she is always practicing her running, and doesn't care who knows it. She has embarrassed her mother by high-prancing down the street to strengthen her knees. The exchange between Squeaky and Gretchen, who is her greatest competition, can be likened to the "psyching out" many athletes engage in prior to competition. Rosie, one of Gretchen's friends, tells Squeaky that she doesn't think Squeaky will win this year. Rather than making Squeaky doubtful, this exchange strengthens her resolve to win. 

“You signing up for the May Day races?" smiles Mary Louise, only it’s not a smile at all. A dumb question like that doesn’t deserve an answer. Besides, there’s just me and Gretchen standing there really, so no use wasting my breath talking to shadows. "I don’t think you’re going to win this time," says Rosie, trying to signify with her hands on her hips all salty, completely forgetting that I have whupped her behind many times for less salt than that.

"I always win cause I’m the best," I say straight at Gretchen who is, as far as I’m concerned, the only one talking in this ventrilo-quist-dummy routine. Gretchen smiles, but it’s not a smile, and I’m thinking that girls never really smile at each other because they don’t know how and don’t want to know how and there’s probably no one to teach us how, cause grown-up girls don’t know either.

The day of the race, Mr. Pearson, a race official who pins the numbers on the racers, suggests to Squeaky that maybe she should allow someone else to win the race this year. This angers Squeaky and gives her even more incentive to win. She does not view competition as a time to let others have a fair chance; she sees it as a time to give it everything she has. If she proves she is the best, she and her neighbors can take pride in her victory. 

“Well, Hazel Elizabeth Deborah Parker, going to give someone else a break this year?" I squint at him real hard to see if he is seriously thinking I should lose the race on purpose just to give someone else a break. "Only six girls running this time," he continues, shaking his head sadly like it’s my fault all of New York didn’t turn out in sneakers. "That new girl should give you a run for your money." He looks around the park for Gretchen like a periscope in a submarine movie. "Wouldn’t it be a nice gesture if you were. . . to ahhh. . ." I give him such a look he couldn’t finish putting that idea into words. Grown-ups got a lot of nerve sometimes. I pin number seven to myself and stomp away, I’m so burnt.

During the race, Squeaky sees her brother Raymond run. It's the first time she has seen him do this, and it has a profound effect on her. She thinks about the fact that she has many awards for her running, but Raymond doesn't have anything to be proud of. She thinks about giving up running to coach Raymond. 

And it occurs to me, watching how smoothly he climbs hand over hand and remembering how he looked running with his arms down to his side and with the wind pulling his mouth back and his teeth showing and all, it occurred to me that Raymond would make a very fine runner. Doesn’t he always keep up with me on my trots? And he surely knows how to breathe in counts of seven cause he’s always doing it at the dinner table, which drives my brother George up the wall. And I’m smiling to beat the band cause if I’ve lost this race, or if me and Gretchen tied, or even if I’ve won, I can always retire as a runner and begin a whole new career as a coach with Raymond as my champion.

After the race is over and it is announced that Squeaky won, her perceptions of competition have once again changed. Squeaky learns that she can have respect and possibly even a friendship with someone she views as competition. Prior to the race, Squeaky didn't have anything but confrontation on her mind when it came to Gretchen. After the race, she sees her as a worthy opponent who deserves respect. The girls smile at each other, and Squeaky's perceptions have been changed by the exchange.

And I look over at Gretchen. . . And I smile. Cause she’s good, no doubt about it. Maybe she’d like to help me coach Raymond; she obviously is serious about running, as any fool can see. And she nods to congratulate me and then she smiles. And I smile. We stand there with this big smile of respect between us. It’s about as real a smile as girls can do for each other, considering we don’t practice real smiling every day, you know, cause maybe we too busy being flowers or fairies or strawberries instead of something honest and worthy of respect. . . you know. . . like being people.

How do others' actions before the race start affect Squeaky in "Raymond's Run"?

Squeaky generally likes to arrive just before the May Day race starts, as she does not like the rest of the May Day program and only wants to lie in the grass before her race is announced. While waiting for the race to start, she notices other kids participating in May Day events and carrying their instruments. Mr. Pearson, who is organizing the race, comes by to sign up Squeaky, and he asks her if she is going to let someone else win this year. He begins to say it would be nice if Gretchen and Squeaky both win the race, but Squeaky fixes him with a stare that makes him silent. Squeaky thinks to herself, "Grown-ups got a lot of nerve sometimes."

Even though she doesn't see Gretchen, her main rival, until right before the race, Squeaky feels "so burnt" from talking to Mr. Pearson and realizing he wants her to share the glory of winning the race. Right before the race, Squeaky sees Gretchen stretching "like a pro," and she sees Raymond bending down like he knows how to run. During the race, she realizes Raymond could be a good runner, so she thinks about what she has noticed before the race while she is running.

What events in "Raymond's Run" changed Squeaky's view on competition?

In "Raymond's Run" by Toni Cade Bambara, there are two main events that change the way Squeaky views competition. Both come near the end of the story when Squeaky is running against Gretchen. The first one is when Squeaky realizes that Gretchen is actually a pretty good runner. Squeaky can't help but admire Gretchen when she sees that Gretchen takes her running seriously, and for the first time Squeaky sees Gretchen as someone other than an enemy.

The second event is when Squeaky notices that Raymond has run right next to her on the other side of the fence. She is surprised at first, but then thinks about how Raymond has always kept up with her when she practiced.

"Doesn't he always keep up with me on my trots? And he surely knows how to breathe in counts of seven 'cause he's always doing it at the dinner table, which drives my brother George up the wall" (Bambara 12).

Squeaky now sees herself as a possible coach for Raymond and a friend to Gretchen--a friend Squeaky might convince to join up with in her new coaching role. 

Who helped Squeaky realize that winning isn't always important in "Raymond's Run"?

Gretchen and her brother Raymond help Squeaky realize that winning is not always important. 

Throughout most of the story, Squeaky pits herself against others, feeling that because they are seemingly antagonistic to her, she must defeat them by winning races. For instance, she distrusts Gretchen's and any other girl's smile, declaring,

"...girls never really smile at each other because they don't know how...."

In addition, she has fought with Rosie and finds her antagonistic when she tells Squeaky that she will not win the race, 

"I don’t think you’re going to win [the May Day race] this time....”

Squeaky is also very defensive of her brother and resents anything that others say to him if it is derogatory. When one of the girls asks Raymond, “What grade you in now, Raymond?” Squeaky quickly retorts, 

“You got anything to say to my brother, you say it to me, Mary Louise Williams of Raggedy Town, Baltimore.”

It is not until she enters the competition of the May Day Race that Squeaky undergoes a change. For, until this day Squeaky has felt that she must be a winner in order to be superior to the others lest they tease her brother and ridicule her. However, when she sees that Raymond can run quickly in his own inimitable manner, Squeaky realizes that Raymond has his own talent and she no longer has to defend him by proving her superiority; instead, she can help train him. Further, when she recognizes Gretchen's smile as genuine, as well as being praise for Squeaky's winning run, Squeaky understands that Gretchen is truly a friend, and not a rival.