Woman In Black Isolation

Many individuals are often alienated from society. One of many causes can be the racism of African Americans. The alienation caused by racism can affect individuals and society. Due to their race, they were discriminated and led to racial inequality. This can all be depicted in “Incident” by Countee Cullen, “ A Black Man Talks of Reaping” by Arna Bontemps, and “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar. In “Incident”, a young African American is called a racial slur because of her physical appearance. Also, “A Black Man Talks of Reaping”, describes how a black man is discriminated and face racial inequality. Lastly, in “We Wear the Mask” shows how blacks had to hide their true identity because they were colored and did not fit in society. In all three text of Cullen, Bontemps, and Dunbar all show how racism can make an individual feel alienated.

The Woman in Black (TWIB) is a story about isolated people in an isolated place. Not least TWIB before she died. Janet Humfrye was isolated by her plight as a mother of an illegitimate child, which was frowned upon by society in the early 20th century when the story is set. Even the town’s people of Crithin Gifford were isolated on the marshes and almost described as though they lived in another dimension, another part of the world set apart from the rest of society. The sense of isolation runs like a thread right through the whole book. Hill does this by creating vivid pictures in the reader’s mind. She uses detailed descriptions or imagery with frequent use of metaphor, simili and personification techniques. She also uses short and

In the United States, racial segregation has been a controversial issue throughout the years. The colored and the white were separated not only in residential regions but also in educational systems. Students were unable to attend their prefered school due to the color of their skin. The fight for equality was difficult to achieve, but cases such as the Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education pushed for the equality of all men and women. These cases were not the only factors for racial equality. Novels, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, aided the push for equality as it made the audience aware of the inequality put upon colored men and women. The idea of one race being superior to the other still exists. Although the common world may not think of it, racial prejudice is a common issue. There are many towns that continue to be segregated due to the societal views on race. To this day, the concept of “separate but equal” is continued rather than alleviating the problems of prejudice.

In the beginning chapters of the book, we get a glimpse of the typical home and community of an African American during segregation. Many Africans Americans were too adjusted to the way of living, that they felt

Throughout the novel it is apparent that everyday instances of racism occur, causing people of color to feel outcasted. There are two very obvious occasions where this happened. In the first instance two African American woman are in a workspace of primarily all white co-workers. When a woman they worked with got these two names mixed up, it was stated that she had a “fifty-fifty chance of getting it right” insinuating that these two women are the only black ones working here. Later, the woman who had the mix-up with the names wrote an apology note; however, in the note she stated it was “our mistake” and seemingly put part of the blame on the to women. This is a primary example of how African Americans can be thrown against a white background making them seem different than everyone else.

Societal standards are set in place so one can stay inside the box. But what happens when the boundaries begin to be pushed open and torn down? It has been discovered through many classic novels and historical events that alienation can occur as a result of these broken barriers. By definition, alienate means “to cause (someone) to stop being friendly, helpful, etc., towards you” (Merriam-Webster). This is a major factor in Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston is able to grasp the moral values and societal standards of gender and race in an African American society in the early 1900’s perfectly. She does this through her subjective alienation and psychological progression of the main character, and protagonist, Janie.

The connection to the world to the novel is due to racial equality. Today, people desires are to fit in and to be liked when they have surrounded themselves with a group of people. Racism and politics are

Gaines links the immediate surroundings aspect of setting with segregation to further develop his theme. In a racist society dominated

confinement, gender inequality and madness.  Freedom vs. confinement is evident in the text through the way the narrator is located strictly in a single room – and not by choice. The narrators attempt to cope with her isolation (through her journal writing) being the plots drive. A quote in the text which accentuates the narrator’s confinement is as follows:  “[my husband] said that after the wallpaper was changed it would be the heavy bedstead, and then the barred windows, and then the gate at the head of the stairs…” these are all examples of the way her husband has placed physical confinements in front of the women.

Loneliness, in small amounts, can be beneficial, but an abundance can often leave a person broken. In Richard Wright’s autobiography, Black Boy, we are shown a dreadful time in the South where oppression and racism is all too present. The autobiography highlights the struggles and hardships Richard and his family faced growing up in the South. Isolation corrodes Richard’s spirit, ultimately leaving him a cynical man.

Throughout the book the town’s people judge each other by their social class; the reader sees this evident against black people, poor white people, and even rich white people. The black people make up the lowest social class. This class is defined by their race. The white folk easily judged the blacks because of their race. Mayella Ewell accused Tom Robinson of sexually abusing her.

Institutionalized inequalities, a societal prejudice against others through a community or organization, is a prevalent issue within the novel, “The Bluest Eye”, written by Toni Morrison. The use of racial discrimination, gender roles, and class structures construct these inequalities, and illustrates the immoral high road that institutions in the 20th century would follow along. Pecola Breedlove, the main character and the person who falls to victim most frequently, endures numerous setbacks and obstacles that contribute to the analysis on how “The Bluest Eye” creates such disparities. As Wall would put it, “in a society ordered by hierarchies of power based on race, class, and gender, no one is more powerless-hence more vulnerable- than a

Francis reminds Adah that ‘the day you land in England, you are a second-class citizen.’ Through his constant assertion that she is second-class, Adah fights to eradicate the stereotypes that are normalised about black women’s position within society. Emecheta devises the attic space as a site which interrogates Adah’s perceptions of her own cultural identity. Adah cannot belong in a physical space in London, or in her marriage to Francis so, she seeks this elsewhere. Her educational background provides a space of belonging and relieves the tension she feels in her marriage to Francis. Thus, ‘literature becomes a vehicle for expressing her sense of identity, belonging and home.’ Whilst the attic space causes a separation between Francis

The ability to disassociate themselves from their actions allows the reader to understand the ideology of exceptionalism. The ideology is saturated with an inconsistency that Warren purposely places in his narratives to exemplify the morality of the characters. The isolated spirit of the characters exemplifies various contradictions in the outcome of their lives and in the end the dual views of the world around them brings forth a sense of superiority. The Southern man struggles with a sense of identity and a place within their own community yet the fictitious dominance of their surroundings pacifies the unfulfilled quest for gratification in a chaotic world.

The characters who were apart of the African community are forced to accept themselves as the “outsiders”, which has been told to them by the upper class white community. Morrison shows how these stereotypes tormented the brains of many, sometimes to the point of losing their minds. The black community was taunted by the white people, and Morrison made the focus of the novel a young group of little girls who are just realizing the horrors of the world.