Analysis Of Anne Moody's Coming Of Age In Mississippi

Coming of Age in Mississippi is an autobiography written by Anne Moody, published by Dial Press in 1968. The story of her life depicts the struggles she personally had, and the adversity she and others like her had to endure, as black families often did growing up in rural Mississippi and in the South. The stories that she wrote about were credible and offered a believable incite to how blacks viewed white people, how blacks were treated in her time, how prejudice among lighter skinned blacks treated darker skinned blacks, and how there was work to still be done in the civil rights movement. Anne grew up as a young child in rural Mississippi, with her mother, father and two younger siblings. What they lived in was considered to be a shack.

There were constant struggles of not having the money to provide for the children in ways of food and clothing. One way she would temporarily compensate, was by bring home the scraps of dinner from her white employers to feed the children. By the time Anne is around ten years old, she also helps provide for the family by cleaning houses part time after school. Most of people who employed her were genuinely nice and easy to get along with. Mrs. Burke was an exception. She was very racist woman that was always making things difficult for Anne. The nicest family was the Claibornes. They were one family that took a liking to Anne and even encouraged her in her studies, and even asking her to sit and eat with them at the dinner table. She continued to work hard in school, and work after school for money most of her young childhood. Her mother, in the meantime, met a man by the name of Raymond Davis. They start having a relationship and eventually move to a town together called Centreville, an upper scale community that Anne really enjoyed. Over the years, Toosweet and Raymond have several children of their

This leads to her being elected for homecoming queen, where her father even gave her gown for the occasion. This marked a very special time in her life. But Anne still saw inequality amongst whites and blacks in day to day living conditions. When Anne discovered the NAACP, she began to contemplate how racial inequalities could be changed. Anne’s mother does not understand her interest in the civil rights movement, nor agrees with it. This eventually creates their disassociation for one another. Anne continued butting heads with her mother, one time by changing her name from Essie Mae to Annie Mae. Eventually, Anne can no longer see herself living with her mother or Raymond, so she moved in with her father, and his new wife,