The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Based on the context from the film and book Hidden Figures, here is the correct answer and a detailed explanation.
Correct Answer: Dorothy Vaughan has to sneak the book from the library because the library is segregated. As an African American woman, she is not permitted to borrow books from the “whites only” section, which is where the book on FORTRAN programming is located.
Explanation
In the story Hidden Figures, which is set in Virginia during the early 1960s, Dorothy Vaughan’s experience at the library highlights the systemic racism and segregation enforced by Jim Crow laws. At this time, public facilities, including libraries, were strictly divided by race. African American patrons were relegated to a separate, smaller, and significantly under-resourced “colored section,” while white patrons had access to the main, well-stocked part of the library.
Dorothy, a brilliant mathematician and acting supervisor for the West Area Computers at NASA, demonstrates incredible foresight. She recognizes that the arrival of the new IBM 7090 electronic computer threatens to make her and her entire team of “human computers” obsolete. To secure their future careers, she realizes they must learn the new programming language required to operate the machine: FORTRAN.
Her quest for knowledge leads her to the public library to find a textbook on the subject. However, the book she needs is not available in the “colored section.” When she attempts to get the book from the main “whites only” area, the white librarian confronts her, condescendingly informing her that those books are not for her. Blocked by this blatant act of discrimination, Dorothy is denied the very resource she needs to advance professionally and protect the livelihoods of her colleagues.
Faced with an unjust system that legally bars her from accessing crucial information, Dorothy makes a defiant choice. She discreetly takes the book without officially checking it out. Her action of “sneaking” it is not a simple act of theft; it is an act of civil disobedience born out of necessity. It symbolizes her refusal to be limited by the racist structures designed to hold her back. She is claiming the education and opportunity that society is actively denying her, demonstrating the extraordinary measures she had to take to contribute to America’s space race and pave the way for future generations.
