In the years following Martin Luther King Jr's death, the civil rights movement and the African American community both underwent a series of changes that would find their way into literature for years to come. Throughout the novel, In My Father"s House by Ernest J. Gaines, many of the characters opinions and actions toward Philip Martin and the civil rights movement were influenced by the era in which they lived and more specifically by the recent death of King. Through closer examination of this piece of literature I found that several characters and situations were not only believable in the context of the novel but also found representation in our nation's history.
When we first meet the members of St. Adrienne's civil right group in chapter 3, we are informed that one of the biggest concerns for the group is the lack of interest in the cause from the younger citizens in their city. While, Gaines does make a sort of explanation for the situation "The people were all well-dressed, and most of them were older than Shepard and the new tenant. Two years earlier half of the crowd would have been their ages, but with Martin Luther King's death many of the younger people had left the program" page 28, a better understanding of the effect Martin Luther King Jr.'s death had on the African American community and it's faith in the civil rights movement would help the reader realize that it was not only in fictional St. Adrienne that people left civil right programs but all over the south. For many people, King's death marked the end of the civil rights movement, knowing this might give more insight to the interaction between Martin and Nolan in chapter six. When Nolan says to Martin "that whole damn thing is over with over with. When they nailed that coffin down on King that demonstrating was over with. All you doing now is bullshitting the people, that's all. It's over with." (91,92) Nolan was just another person that believed the civil rights movement to be over.
The Dead Rabbits, the Plug Ugly's, the 40 Thieves, the Slaughter Houser's and the Confederation of American Natives. All historical gangs of New York during the late 1800's. ... My friend Miles owns a copy. ... My roommate Ryan does not agree. ... Never the less, I found value in this movie simply from a fascinating and educational perspective. ...
This is clearly demonstrated in the change in perspectives as the past shifts to the present in the second and third stanzas. ... This is heightened by the closing line: "key/that'll open no house/when this one is pulled down." ... However, the imaginative childhood perspective is juxtaposed with her closing statement: "There are too many things tying me to the ground". ... Furthermore, the historical allusion: "pegging tents further and further south of Hadrian's Wall" is indicative of the gradual assimilation of the persona into the new culture. This also emphasizes the barrier be...
From a sociological perspective, I narrowed down exactly to why these women's roles have been modified due to societal changes and historical events. ... My mother and father both had to adapt to a brand new culture in America to accomplish their goals. ... In this case, not only did my mother have to change her roles but so did my father. ... For my father, all this was new but he accepted and willingly completed his tasks. ... On the other hand, my mother was also dealing with the same changes as my father. ...
Though, these two characters are on the same Amtrak, their cultural perspectives and differences separate them. ... The speaker accomplishes the use of irony in "The Amtrak from Boston to New York" by using historical references. Alexie points out in the first stanza that the white woman stares in amazement of the old historical house saying "that house on that hill is over 200 years old". In the speaker's mind he goes on to say that his architecture is "15,000 year older" than the house on the hill. ... The speaker goes on to say "If Don Henley's ...
I think this book is a historical perspective of violence in America. ... If my friend does something bad, I would want to outdo what my friend does and do something worse than bad. ... How the book outlined the historical events, and the perspective of violence, I don't think it has changed. ... James Boskett, Pud's son wanted to be just like his father, he wanted to be a bad man. ... You could learn things that are outside of your house; you might see it from someone that you don't even know practicing their sense of violence to someone else. ...
The farm and house that my father was raised in belonged to my granddad and his family had been running the farm and making honey since the early 1900's, before they moved. ... Today my father has only four of his siblings who are alive. ... At the age of twenty my father moved to Cairo, Egypt to get a better education. ... At the end of the year they rented a house not far from where my father taught, and after they had settled down they had seven more children, including me, who were all born in the same hospital called the Jalal Hospital. ... My father has always talked about Eritre...
This I found very strange but I noticed that this tendency began shortly after my father stopped attending. ... She instilled in me the idea that it doesn't matter what church you attend, rather that you are attending and dwelling in the house of the Lord with other believers. ... Outside of what religion tells us, Jesus' life on Earth and his existence as a person can be proven through historical documentation. ... When putting how complex every system on earth is in perspective, it is ridiculous to think that everything on earth randomly came into how it is today from a massive sta...
Stephanie suggests the way to get past these polarized viewpoints, is to put their strengths and weaknesses into historical perspective. ... According to Stephanie Coontz (Post, Lawrence, & Weber, 2001), historically, productive work by mothers, fathers and by young people has been compatible with family life, in addition to strengthening family relationships. ... If the woman of the house is the breadwinner, I see nothing wrong with dad staying home to take care of the family on the home front, and maybe working a part time job to supplement his wife's income. ... I see a lot of th...
Recalling her experiences as a six-year-old from an adult perspective, Jean Louise Finch, nicknamed "Scout," describes the circumstances involving her widowed father, Atticus, and his legal defense of Tom Robinson, a local black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. ... The character of Atticus Finch, Scout's father, was based on Lee's own father, a liberal Alabama lawyer and statesman who frequently defended African Americans within the racially prejudiced Southern legal system. ... Together with Dill, Scout and Jem make a game of observing "Boo" Radley, a...
