ipl-logo

Themes In The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman

1462 Words6 Pages

GAIN’S THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN –
ODYSSEY OF A RACE
Dr. T. Sasikanth Reddy
(Lecturer in English, S.C.N.R Govt. Degree College,Proddatur Town, YSR Dist, A.P. India, 516360.)
Email: drtskreddy@gmail.com

ABSTRACT The novel as a genre offers great freedom both in terms of narration and space for the creative writer, not only to perfect his art but also to capture a particular movement in history and to recreate it imaginatively. Ernest J. Gaines’ novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman spans an era from the times of slavery in America to the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. It thus not only captures a significant period of American history but also narrates the life history of Miss Jane Pittman, a fictitious …show more content…

In the books available to him the voices he knew so intimately were silent, and the stories they told absent. He recalls his forays into the library’s holdings and indicates the invisibility of his culture in the mainstream literature. Miss Jane Pittman thus satisfies a long felt need for an ideal representation and Gaines not only allows a Black woman to recall history but also presents a character who ‘provides the nurture that enables individual, familial and communal survival.’ (Melissa 77). The choice of a female narrator is also remarkable as American history has rarely been chronicled through the perspective of a Black woman.
The dearth of believable portraits of Black Americans and the desire to rediscover the lost voices and tales left in Louisiana have a vital shaping influence on the form and subject matter of Gaines’s fiction. Thus Gaines becomes ‘the Bayou Griot’ and enlivens his novel with the history of local events and people. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is about struggle, fate and people. Jane is full of ‘that oldest human longing for self¬ revelation’ (Byerman 122). As a craftsman Gaines decided to let his eponymous character tell the story of her life in her own

Show More
Related
1404 Words | 6 Pages

Danielle L. McGuire’s At the Dark End of the Street, “an important, original contribution to civil rights historiography”, discusses the topic of rape and sexual assault towards African American women, and how this played a major role in causing the civil rights movement (Dailey 491). Chapter by chapter, another person's story is told, from the rape of Recy Taylor to the court case of Joan Little, while including the significance of Rosa Parks and various organizations in fighting for the victims of unjust brutality. The sole purpose of creating this novel was to discuss a topic no other historian has discussed before, because according to McGuire they have all been skipping over a topic that would change the view of the civil rights movement.

Read More
1026 Words | 5 Pages

Project Report: Oral History and the History of the Civil Rights Movement - Kim Lacy Rogers, The Journal of American History, Vol. 75, No. 2 (1988), pp. 567-576 The civil rights movement of the early 1960s was one of the most significant events in the modern history of the United States, one that has elicited much examination and research by historians. An era that saw the power and influence of the movement play an integral role in the eradication of legalised segregation and the disenfranchisement of African Americans. Given the historic importance of the civil rights movement, this paper aims to examine Dr Kim Lacy Rogers ‘Oral History and the History of the Civil Rights Movement’, published in the Journal of American History in 1988.

Read More
829 Words | 4 Pages

Harriet Jacobs and Sojourner Truth are women who face adversity categorized in an invisible sub-group, making it difficult for black women to compete in the world. This sub-group is known as intersectionality. Black women struggle with the perception being inferior placing them at the bottom of the social class. Jacobs and Truth, however, share their experiences to other men and women allowing them to be aware of this invisible group. They willingly chose to speak out against this discrimination.

Read More
1285 Words | 6 Pages

The Personal and Embedded Societal Racism and Patriarchy of Rufus Weylin The science fiction novel Kindred, written by Octavia Butler highlights the lasting effects of the hierarchical system of slavery in the United States. The main character, Dana Franklin, a black woman living in 1976 Los Angeles who suddenly travels back in time to her ancestors’ years of the early eighteenth century, experiences the embedded institutional racial controversies practiced daily. She watches one of her ancestors, a white man named Rufus Weylin living in Maryland, grow to be a product of institutional patriarchy and racism - a slave owner. His father set a violent example for him, causing him to grow to be an unprincipled man.

Read More
1926 Words | 8 Pages

We might look at Gaines novel as just a book with racism in it but paying attention keenly you see that what Gaines showed us about racism in his novel is still

Read More
728 Words | 3 Pages

The anti-lynching writings therefore enclosed a comprehensive view of the racialized sexual politics of the south; a justification of the black men as true men, a critique of white would-be protectors as just corrupt and exposure of white women as active participants to white supremacy in sexual politics together with re-centering of the black women’s experiences in the incidences of rape, sexualized racism and lynching. She documented unbiased suffering of attacks of lynching and rape on black women and girls. By so doing, she staged a claim of outraged black womanhood that was first articulated by the opponents of slavery though becoming unthinkable under the white supremacists ideology by time the nineteenth century came to an end. She also describes the black women rapes as a piece of black men

Read More
928 Words | 4 Pages

She has written numerous books about American History, and more specifically, slavery and black history in the United States. Due to these reasons, she is highly qualified to write such a book. II. Summary of the Main Ideas The nonfiction book, “Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom” written by Catherine Clinton is a captivating restoration

Read More
724 Words | 3 Pages

The story takes place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in America, when desegregation is finally achieved. Flannery O’Connor’s use of setting augments the mood and deepens the context of the story. However, O’Connor’s method is subtle, often relying on connotation and implication to drive her point across. The story achieves its depressing mood mostly through the use of light and darkness in the setting.

Read More
1353 Words | 6 Pages

Mamie specifically wrote this book to tell her son’s story, representing hope and forgiveness, which revealed the sinister and illegal punishments of the south. She wanted to prevent this horrendous tragedy from happening to others. The purpose of the book was to describe the torment African Americans faced in the era of Jim Crow. It gives imagery through the perspective of a mother who faced hurt, but brought unity to the public, to stand up for the rights of equal treatment. This book tells how one event was part of the elimination of racial segregation.

Read More
487 Words | 2 Pages

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, born on September 24, 1825, was a leading African American poet, author, teacher and political activist. Although she was born to “free” parents in Baltimore, Maryland, she still experienced her share of hardships. She lost her mother at the tender age of three, was raised by her aunt and uncle, and fully employed by thirteen. Though all odds seemed against her, she triumphed over her obstacles, publishing her first book of poetry at the of age twenty and her first novel at the age of sixty-seven. Outside of writing books, she was a civil rights leader and a public speaker in the Anti-Slavery Society.

Read More
1288 Words | 6 Pages

Her tragedy reflects not only the sexism in the African American families in early 20th century, but also the uselessness

Read More
2034 Words | 9 Pages

The 1920’s were a period filled with an overflow of social change and the literature of the time showcased this change, from the changing viewpoints on woman, to the voice of the black community gaining grounds, and the

Read More
878 Words | 4 Pages

I find that this example highlights the fact that while women had far less political power in society during the nineteenth century, the least the law could do was to protect the sexual integrity of women; However, African American women suffered from racial, gender and class discrimination that makes it difficult for them to prosecute those that sexually assault them. Furthermore, anger of white men were usually taken out on the wives of freed African American men and usually in the form of sexual assaults and this made the situation for African American women

Read More
1642 Words | 7 Pages

Literature is often credited with the ability to enhance one’s understanding of history by providing a view of a former conflict. In doing so, the reader is able to gain both an emotional and logistical understanding of a historically significant event. Additionally, literature provides context that can help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the political climate of a time period. Within the text of The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead’s, the use of literary elements such as imagery, metaphor, and paradox amplifies the reader’s understanding of early 19th century slavery and its role in the South of the United States of America. Throughout the novel, Whitehead utilizes a girl named Cora to navigate the political and personal consequences of escaping slavery, the Underground Railroad, and her transition

Read More
872 Words | 4 Pages

Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma written by Camilla Townsend introduces the historical period of seventeenth century Native Americans and the journey of their survival. Townsend is known for her multiple books mostly focusing on the lives of indigenous people and their stories. This book, however, goes through the specific life of Pocahontas herself. The author uses not only tragedy but also romance when recapping Pocahontas’ life throughout the years. The book successfully teaches and emphasizes the struggles Pocahontas and her people went through and educates the audience of the real history behind this time period.

Read More

More about Themes In The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman

Related Topics

Open Document