Anne Moody

A detailed Summary of Anne Moody

Anne Moody's "Coming of Age in Mississippi" was altogether insightful into the life of an African-American raised in the deep south during the civil rights movement. It gave us a look at what many sacrificed in order to achieve civil rights for all. I believe this book achieved its goal of telling of one woman's struggle for her basic rights in a hostile environment.

This book begins with the life of its author. She starts out as basically a slave child on a farm in Mississippi. She tells of her parent's lives, how they went to the fields at sun up and came back from them at sundown. She describes her abusive cousin, George Lee, and tells of a few traumatic childhood experiences. She goes on describing where her mother and fathers marital problems began, which leads to their separation and her father moving in with another woman. This is where her hardships begin for her. Throughout her childhood she is a timid, poor little girl who is afraid to even ask her mother questions about what is going on around her. Anne tells of their staple diet, beans and bread, which was just enough to keep her alive. I cannot possibly imagine what it is like to be on the brink of starvation. Although a tim

Through her high school years Anne becomes more and more aware of what is going on in the world around her. Her first realization of extreme racial violence was when she learned of Emmit Till's murder. Through learning of Emmit's death she also learns of groups such as the NAACP. One Sunday afternoon Anne sits down with Mrs. Rice and was told of the countless butchering of blacks by whites in the South. " I was fifteen years old when I began to hate people ", that is not only whites to which Anne is referring but also the blacks who let these acts of violence to continue happening.

As she grows older her mother begins a relationship with a black man from town named Raymond. She talks of her mother being pregnant and her realizing how babies are brought into the world. Anne describes her mother's mood swings and what I see as emotional depression while seeing Raymond and not living with him. Anne, her mother, brother, and sister eventually move into a house in town with Raymond, which he has built for them. This house seems like a mansion compared to what they had been living in.

The book ends on a note mixed emotion. After Anne had left the Movement for a while she returns to Canton, the city which most of her protesting took place, after being in New Orleans for a few months. She stays there a few days and realizes just what the Civil Rights Movement meant to he. The book closes with Anne hopping on a bus headed for Washington. She leaves with a sense of doubt but at the same time an even greater sense of hope.

id, shy, little girl, Anne does show a spark of intensity through her schoolwork. She is very competitive and driven to do well in school. This is the fuel which will later feed her fire to participate in the Movement. This want for an education is also a rather new trait for black women of her time. She is already a sort of radical as a child and does not even know it yet.

During her junior year of high school Anne left home and went to live with her dad for the remainder of the school year, she and her mom had a falling out. That summer she went to New Orleans and worked in a chicken plant. She finished out her senior year w

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Approximate Word count = 1464
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels