The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman Essay - 1229 Words

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman begins with a note from the editor, who is a local schoolteacher near the plantation where Jane Pittman lives. He has long been trying to hear her story, and, beginning in the summer of 1962, she finally tells it to him. When her memory lapses, her acquaintances help fill in the spaces. The recorded tale, with editing, then becomes The Autobiography of Miss Jane. Jane Pittman is born into slavery on a plantation somewhere in Louisiana. Jane is called quot;Ticeyquot; during her days as a slave and has no parents; her mother died as a result of a beating when Jane was a child, and Jane did not know her father. Until she is around nine, Jane works in the Big House caring for the white children. One†¦show more content†¦Life on Mr. Bones plantation initially is good with a colored schoolteacher and a political scene still monitored by Republicans from the north. Then the original owner of the plantation, Colonel Dye, buys it back (with money borrowed from Yankees). Life reverts back to almost how it was before slavery, with segregation and violence against blacks who step out of line. The blacks start fleeing north because of the worsening conditions. Initially the whites do not care, but soon they try to stop the flight. Ned, who is now almost seventeen, joins a committee that helps blacks leave. Colonel Dye warns Jane that Ned must sto p, but when he will not, Ku Klux Klan members arrive at Janes house. Ned is not home when they come and is able to flee the plantation later that night. Jane does not want to leave her secure life, so they separate with sadness. Ned goes to Kansas, gets an education, and eventually joins the U.S. Army to fight in Cuba. Jane soon marries Joe Pittman (without an official ceremony). Despite Colonel Dyes attempts to keep them, Joe and Jane soon move to a ranch near the Texas-Louisiana border where Joe has found a job breaking horses. Joe and Jane live at the new ranch for many years, but as they age Jane becomes increasingly worried about Joe getting hurt in his work. One of her recurring dreams depicts him being thrown from a horse. Soon after, Jane sees a black stallion in a corral that isShow MoreRelatedThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman1277 Words   |  6 PagesThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, used many historical events to connect to the characters story. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman was published by Bantam Books in 1972 and has 259 pages. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a classic fictional book. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is the story if a women’s life told when she was over one hundred years old. The novel goes over 3 main periods of time: war years, reconstruction, and slavery. In The Autobiography of Miss JaneRead MoreThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman1596 Words   |  6 Pagesexcuse for failure. If you look at them as a hurdle, each one strengthens you for the next† -Ben Carson. In The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, a series of obstacles involving slavery and the search for freedom continually affects Jane Pittman and those around her. Every character within the novel has their own unique way of facing these obstacles, but none of them are as effective as Miss Janes eye on the prize mentality. Tee Bob Samson is a sensitive man, who when faced with obstacles, allowsRead MoreThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman Essay647 Words   |  3 PagesThe Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman In the novel The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman, there were many different stories about JanePittmans life. In the movie there were not as many stories as the novel, but they were still quite interesting. The novel and the movie had many similarities and differences. Some of the similarities were very noticeable. Just from the beginning, in both the movie and the novel, Ned carried the two rocks that made the fire for Jane and Ned. Ned thenRead MoreThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J.Gaines664 Words   |  3 PagesThe realistic fiction novel, â€Å"The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,† by Ernest J. Gaines, tells the life of a black woman whose life spanned from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. Miss Jane Pittman herself narrates the novel as a schoolteacher records her accounts. Jane’s life entails a childhood spent as a slave. Once she gains her freedom from the white man, she leaves the plantation behind in search of Ohio. As the story of Jane’s life progresses and shows her personal growth,Read MoreThis Essay Is About The Autobiography Of Miss Jane Pittman1495 Words   |  6 PagesThis essay is about the Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and History. This essay argues that the historical institution of slavery has not allowed for change to come. The emancipation has set all enslaved people free from slavery but has not made enslaved people free from the effects of slavery. The damage that the institution of slavery inflicted on the people of the South has conflicted with perusal of freedom and change. The major theme of the passage is the conflict of the historical past andRead MoreErnest Gaines: Accomplished African-American Author Every person has challenges and different600 Words   |  3 Pageswriting, Gaines received many awards for his best novels and works. One of the first awards he won was the Joseph Henry Jackson Award in 1959 for his story Comeback, which Gaines wrote while still attending college. After writing The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, he was nominated into the Black Academy of Arts and Letters in 1972 and received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1970. The Guggenheim Fellowship allowed him work at Denison University as a writer in residence. In 1983, Gaines won the SanRead MoreA Lesson Before Dying Summary Notes1827 Words   |  8 Pagesteacher trying to teach a man named Jefferson that he is a man, not a hog, before he is executed. †¢ It was important for Jefferson’s caretaker, Miss Emma, and the entire black community that he dies as a man- proud and brave. Author- Ernest J. Gaines †¢ Born in 1933 in Oscar, Louisiana †¢ Author and educator †¢ Wrote several books- Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman discusses period from the Civil War to the civil rights movement †¢ 1994- National Book Critics Circle Award for A Lesson Before Dying YearRead MoreEssay on A Lesson Before Dying Major Works Data Sheet4251 Words   |  18 Pagesalongside their elders in the fields. He served in the U.S. Army, but then pursued writing. Some other books that he’s written include A long Day in November, Of Love and Dust, Cathering Carmier, Bloodline, In My Father’s House, and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. He lives now at a house that he and his wife built on land that was once part of River Lake Plantation, where he spent his childhood, and where his ancestors labored for generations. Helpful background information or information aboutRead MoreSlave Oppression3341 Words   |  14 Pagesand Ernest Gaines are two African-American authors who come from completely different backgrounds, but provide an interesting viewpoint on the struggle of an African-American. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and Ernest J. Gaines’s The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman are two fictional books, which both narrators are African-Americans who are struggling to survive in oppressing societies. The setting of Ellison’s Invisible Man takes place in between the 1940s and the mid-1950s and it focuses onRead More Comparing Dignity in A Lesson Before Dying, Jane Pittman, and Of Love and Dust2674 Words   |  11 PagesDignity in Southern Society in A Lesson Before Dying, Autobiography of Jane Pittman, and Of Love and Dust      Ã‚  Ã‚   The ante-bellum Southern social system put blacks in a low economic and social class and limited their pursuit of happiness.   The aristocracy firmly held blacks in emotional and spiritual slavery. Cajuns, Creoles and poor whites maintained a low status in society, which frustrated them because they felt they should be superior to blacks and equal to whites. Racism was a base of