Coming Of Age In Mississippi Theme Essay
The autobiography entitled Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody (born Essie Mae) is the story of her life as a poor African American girl coming of age in segregated Mississippi. She grew up in Wilkerson County, a rural county overflowing with poverty and racism. Both of her parents spent time working on plantations until her father left the family for another woman. Her mother then obtains a job working as a maid for several white families, in order to support her family. Throughout her childhood she battles discrimination and starvation in order to stay alive in one of the most racially segregated states in America. This autobiography extensively recaps Moody's life beginning at the age of four until her early twenties.
Moody was …show more content…
These themes showed specific examples of how blacks suffered during the civil rights movement. Moody often used food to remind readers of exactly how poor she actually was. Since her family lived on paycheck to paycheck, on most days all they ate was bread and beans. Every so often they were given the opportunity to eat leftovers from the white people her mother worked for. Food exemplified the wealth African American people did not have compared to the white people. At one point in the book her mother had to steal corn from a white family's yard just to keep her family from starving. Being black, which led to prejudice was a main theme in this entire book. There was not only a prejudice between whites and blacks, but between lighter-skinned and darker-skinned blacks. Lighter-skinned blacks tried to act as if they were higher class to the darker skinned blacks.
"They were Negroes and we were also Negroes. I just didn't see Negroes hating each other so much," she says being surprised that lighter-skinned blacks would try to give themselves social distinction relative to darker-skinned blacks. Moody experiences each kind of prejudice and also shows a discriminate attitude toward lighter-skinned
Moody was …show more content…
These themes showed specific examples of how blacks suffered during the civil rights movement. Moody often used food to remind readers of exactly how poor she actually was. Since her family lived on paycheck to paycheck, on most days all they ate was bread and beans. Every so often they were given the opportunity to eat leftovers from the white people her mother worked for. Food exemplified the wealth African American people did not have compared to the white people. At one point in the book her mother had to steal corn from a white family's yard just to keep her family from starving. Being black, which led to prejudice was a main theme in this entire book. There was not only a prejudice between whites and blacks, but between lighter-skinned and darker-skinned blacks. Lighter-skinned blacks tried to act as if they were higher class to the darker skinned blacks.
"They were Negroes and we were also Negroes. I just didn't see Negroes hating each other so much," she says being surprised that lighter-skinned blacks would try to give themselves social distinction relative to darker-skinned blacks. Moody experiences each kind of prejudice and also shows a discriminate attitude toward lighter-skinned