The first two parts of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittmann
is a narration of Jane’s many adventures after acquiring her freedom; including
the people she had met on her journeys, the homes she lived in, her various
jobs, her and Ned’s achievements, and the bad experiences she had during that
time. However, book three describes the social interactions and conditions of
Jane’s surroundings in Samson.
Chapter 25, “Samson”, starts with
Jane’s desire to move far away from her house at the river due to the memories
it brings her. As a response, Aunt Hattie Jordan tells her that even if she
moved many miles, she would still be near memories because “memories was not a
place, memories was in the mind” (161). This precise quote was important to my
persona because sometimes when I experience a bad situation, I feel the urge of
running away from the place and person that was involved in it. Never had I
given any thought of how, even though I go away, the memory is still stuck in
my head unable to be forgotten. Hattie’s words made me realize how we are played
by our minds and get trapped in our conscience, finding it hard to let things
go.
Furthermore, the comparisons between
Tee Bob and Timmy based on their racial differences angered me in great measure.
Mostly, Robert Samson marked Tee Bob’s superiority over his brother because he
was white and Timmy was black. “He knowed Timmy had to respect Miss Amma Dean
just like he had to respect every white lady or white man” (180) are among the
several opinions that evidence how Robert felt about his black son. A parent is
supposed to love his child unconditionally and protect him from any harm, yet
Mr. Samson denigrated his boy. Ever since I was a little girl, my family taught
me to respect other’s beliefs, culture, race and sexual orientation; so seeing
a father emotionally abusing his offspring offended me in a certain way.
Moreover, this third book discussed the
process by which white people keep bringing down the efforts of African
Americans to succeed. In the chapter titled “Huey P. Long”, Jane depicts how
Mr. Long was a man of the people. After he was killed, Pittman accused
Caucasians of purposely terminating his life stating: “They killed him for
helping the poor, the poor black and poor white /they thought the poor might
rise” (190). There is a possibility of it being true as Ned was killed by the
white people because of his determination of integrating them into society and
getting them to stand up as Americans and human beings that deserved to be
treated with dignity. Truth be told, they would not have felt the necessity of
rising if society had accepted, or at least respected, the legal freedom
granted to them by the Emancipation Proclamation. However, since they were
still being denigrated and segregated it was up to them to fight for what was
right.
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