Quote:
Originally posted by LoudR
Can someone help me on my Research project about literature and racism for english?
Like I have to answer these 3 questions regarding racism:
1. How is racism present in literature?
2. What can we learn from racism in literature?
3. How does racism in literature reflect society?
What can I talk about in each key question? Like I have to use different literature to answer them. I'm already using To Kill A Mockingbird, changes by 2pac, Othello.
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Racism in literature was seen as a norm during the early 20th century. The characters that are subjected to racism accept this prejudice but don't really act against it. Look at the novel "Of Mice and Men", the black man Crook (I think, haven't read the book in several years) is subjected to severe racism. When he tells a woman named "Curley's Wife" to leave his shack, she threatens to have him lynched. Yet his addition in the novel isn't to highlight racism at all, John Steinbeck merely used his appearance as a reflection of the hardships people faced during the aftermath of the Great Wall Street Crash.
"Their Eyes Were Watching God" was created during the Harlem Renaissance by a black woman named Zora Neale Hurston. This era was a time of artistic movement for the negro community and it spawned many great pieces of literature. But I digress. Back on topic, the book does highlight areas of racism but again it's not a major focus. The character Nanny tells us of how she was raped by a plantation owner and got pregnant. His wife was going to lash her to death over this, but she ran away. Later on in the novel, Tea Cake is forced by soldiers to help bury the dead after a massive storm. The soldiers told them that black people were simply going to be thrown in a ditch and have acid poured on them (I don't know if it was acid, but their deaths were not treated with respect). White people however were to be buried in proper coffins.
Modern literature such as "The Color Purple" have more reflection on racism than books written in the actual times. Maybe racism was a taboo area and has only become more popular as of recent.
I just made that up on the spot, and it doesn't really sound that good at all
