Their friendship means more to either of them than the definition of the word slave. Huck demonstrates his loyalty when he befriends Jim. This becomes evident when he realizes that he cannot tell the others of Jim's whereabouts. Huck struggles over Continue Reading...
Whether a character is imprisoned by his own inability to shake loose from discomfort, or enslaved through none of his own doing, the universal human sentiment is to set the character free. Meanwhile I disagree with Hochman when she writes that the Continue Reading...
Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe and "Sociology of the South," and "Cannibals All" by Charles Fitzhugh. Specifically it will contrast and compare the two authors' feelings, beliefs, and attitudes regarding the role of the master in the so Continue Reading...
Election of Obama and the Problems of the Social Dynamic There has not been any positive change in social dynamics as a result of the election of the first African-American president. If anything, race relations have worsened under the Obama Admini Continue Reading...
Far from being contrite, Southerners more emphatically held to the perceived, innate superiority of their race and breeding, comparing themselves to Biblical patriarchs as a means of validating these perceptions and justifying slavery (432). If Perr Continue Reading...
Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson," by Mark Twain. Specifically, it will trace the different types of irony that Twain used in the book. What are they, and why did Twain use them? Twain's use of irony throughout Pudd'nhead Wilson vividly illustrates Twai Continue Reading...
Malcolm X: Director Spike Lee's Portrait Of An American Hero Malcolm X was not a man who could be easily characterized and the same is true for Spike Lee's 1992 film. Malcolm X was a labor of love for Lee, who was only thirty-five at the time of the Continue Reading...
Representations of Women The concept of slavery in America has engendered a great deal of scholarship. During the four decades following reconstruction, despite the hopes of the liberals in the North, the position of the Negro in America declined. A Continue Reading...
The fact that he chose to use real Black people in the background, but white actors in the lead roles highlights the idea that Blacks were still supposed to be subservient to whites; even lead characters who were supposed to be Black were portrayed Continue Reading...
At the same time, he concluded that Africans were selected because they were more adept to warmer climates and to prevent Arabs from gaining a foothold on the continent. This is because, Arab slave traders were common and increasing their use of sla Continue Reading...
Suffering for Our Cinematic Sins: John Coffey in "The Green Mile" While both films "The Green Mile" (1999) and "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994) have prison settings, and the same director, these two film's overarching ideological agendas stand in Continue Reading...
Stressing the shackles that slavery could latch to a man's mind, Douglass was given insight into the inherent transgression behind the bondage. And his ability to adopt such a perspective, while easy to underestimate from the distance of over a cent Continue Reading...
If there is a tendency among readers to view Malcolm X as a radical figure, especially where compared to peaceful counterparts like Dr. King, the autobiography helps to show racism in a light that makes Malcolm X extremely sympathetic, or at least a Continue Reading...
Ellison The literary work of Ralph Ellison is among the most studied and the most controversial. In the context of African-American writers Ellison is both revered and despised for the manner in which he wrote (or failed to write) concerning the que Continue Reading...
As Beauvoir said, these plays tend to deal with restoring a sense of value and choice to a world that has been largely stripped of these features by modern critical, literary, and dramatic trends. Character is created with a greater sense of agency Continue Reading...
Yet, as Hendrick writes, Harriet also transformed those feelings into an engine of social change; "pursuing the Calvinist injunction to 'improve the affliction' and reap 'the peaceable fruits of righteousness' in the wake of" her son Charley's death Continue Reading...
Throughout these essays he weaves the larger political events of the day. Well aware that Black soldiers made important contributions in World War II, he notes that the armed forces were strongly segregated. He notes that Italy is fighting a war in Continue Reading...
Public Passions In "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow," Richard Wright provided a brief autobiographical sketch of his life growing up in the segregated South. He described how he learned about the laws of Jim Crow in the South, and the unwritten code o Continue Reading...
Surrounded by the same anti-African-American culture, both civil rights warriors and jazz pioneers faced criticism because of their association with African-Americans. Similarly, both of the movements were founded out of a desire to legitimate, or a Continue Reading...
Women to History Women have contributed to the history of the world from the beginning of time. Their stories are found in legends, myths, and history books. Queens, martyrs, saints, and female warriors, usually referred to as Amazon Women, writers Continue Reading...
Mookie's frustrated acts show that violence is sometimes justified as a means of "self-defense," in Malcolm X's words. Bigger did not have access to the words of wisdom of either Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr. More importantly, Bigger did not h Continue Reading...
Faulkner's attitude on race relations at the outset of the civil rights movement in the south is best expressed in one of his lesser works, Intruder in the Dust. The main theme in this book is a simple one: an old black man, Lucas Beauchamp, known fo Continue Reading...
A good example of this can be seen with the songs that were performed by: Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. As they would often take: the actual events and incorporate them into the lyrics of their songs. This would serve as way of slowly changing Continue Reading...
African-Americans are second only to Native Americans, historically, in terms of poor treatment at the hands of mainstream American society. Although African-Americans living today enjoy nominal equality, the social context in which blacks interact w Continue Reading...
The novel opens seven years after Gabo's mother, Ximena, was murdered by coyotes -- or paid traffickers -- during an attempt to cross the border. Her mutilated body was found, her organs gone -- sold most likely. Because of the fear surrounding thi Continue Reading...
Their main arguments are based on historical assumptions and on facts which have represented turning points for the evolution of the African-American society throughout the decades, and especially during the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. In t Continue Reading...
One of the major components of these Jim Crow laws was disenfranchisement which was "largely the work of rural and urban white elites who sought to reassure" whites in the south that white supremacy was the law of the land. As a result, lynching an Continue Reading...
62), a society with "shallow-rooted" norms (p. 177), a "meager and difficult place" as opposed to the expansive way Ruth wishes to grow as a woman. (p. 178) Helen's storm inside, this mother's crisis of identity, has parallels not with Baldwin's wom Continue Reading...
PUDD'NHEAD WILSON Mark Twain was a great writer with perfect blend of wit and humor. While his work focused on the humorous aspects of every day life, he would often bring a touch of earthly wisdom to it, thus perfecting the art of story telling. Tw Continue Reading...
Multi-Ethnic Literature The focus of this work is to examine multi-ethnic literature and focus on treating humans like farm animals that can be manipulated for various purposes. Multi-Ethnic literature offers a glimpse into the lives of the various Continue Reading...
Yes, the Oedipus complex aspect of Shakespeare it gives us and which in turn invites us to think about the issue of subjectivity, the myth and its relation to psychoanalytic theory. (Selfe, 1999, p292-322) Hemlet and Postcolonial theory Postcoloni Continue Reading...
