The Influence Of Anne Moody's Identity

Society influences a person’s identity and for Anne Moody, the harassment and oppression she was receiving from the whites caused her to doubt herself and her race especially under different circumstances. For example, the movie theater incident triggered her to reflect on why she is different from the whites, She says, “ Now all of a sudden they were white, and their whiteness made them better than me. I now realized that not only were they better than me because they were white, but everything they owned and everything connected with them was better than what was available to me”. (38). Anne sees being white as being powerful and reality sets in when she understands that being black, you will never have as much authority as whites. Anne Moody’s identity as she distinguishes whiteness and blackness has an effect on her because throughout her life, racial problems were all she ever knew. Growing up in a community of hatred and ignorance and where blacks are considered the minority, her identity wouldn’t matter. Webster 5

Luckily for Anne, the growth of her

It’s significance to Anne Moody and the way she considered herself was seen throughout her life experiences. She would act a certain way because of the interactions she had with her family, friends, and the white and black people in her community and in the movement. The differences and commonality in identity between the whites and blacks in this novel is that they all share the same attributes, but it’s the difference between their identities that cause racism. The differences in identity play a huge role in who obtains power, specifically what the whites had over the blacks in the novel, better homes, jobs, education, etc. The differences and commonalities put a barrier up for African Americans and how they were treated because they were held back from the dynamic society