Have you ever heard the story of Emmett Till? This story takes place in Greenwood Mississippi: the year 1955. It’s about an African American boy from Chicago named Emmet Till who was brutally murdered. The story includes the events surrounding the murder and the trial that occurs afterward. The main protagonist in this story is Hiram Hilburn, a teenager and acquaintance of Emmet Till. His childhood had embedded racist ideas into him, but as he sees these events transpire his eyes are opened to the reality of the south and the truth about racism. In this novel, Mississippi Trail, 1955 by Chris Crowe, the actions of the characters and the events of the story show how silence and indifference perpetuate hate and violence. In chapter 2 of Mississippi …show more content…
Hiram had just come back to Greenwood Mississippi for the summer to visit his grandpa and when he bumped into R. C after all those years R.C invited Hiram to go fishing. However, little did Hiram know that this fishing trip would open his eyes to the reality of the south. When they arrived at the river, R.C fell asleep under a tree. Hiram saw his acquaintance Emmet that he met the other day at the train station and Emmet walked over and asked Hiram for some food from his lunch bag. Knowing R.C would be upset if he saw him talking to an African American, Hiram asked to go somewhere else, but it was too late for discussion. R.C woke up and he was very angry when he saw Emmet. Not knowing the danger he was in, Emmet insisted that he “ just wanted a snack”, but R.C didn’t tolerate it. “He lunged forward and grabbed Emmet in a headlock.. Besides, I’d had my chance to do something, but all I’d was watch R.C. humiliate that boy. “ ( Crowe 92-93) This incident is far worse than what R.C had done all those years before, he had taken it to a whole new level. R.C shoved fish guts in Emmets's mouth and scared him half to death by choking him and dropping a knife right next to his face. Meanwhile, Hiram did not have the courage to stand up to R.C and so he stayed silent and in this way it