AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By
PRISKA NIAWATI
Student Number: 054214047
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By
PRISKA NIAWATI
Student Number: 054214047
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
Dedicated to:
My Beloved Parents
Partoyo and Endah Setyowati
when I need Him so much. I dedicate this thesis to my beloved parents; they have prayed for me and supported me. I also would like to thank them because they always push me so that I can finish my study in this university and for the attention and love that they have given to me. Thanks to my uncle and aunt for took care of me during my study in Yogyakarta.
My gratitude also would be addressed to my advisor, Dra. Th. Enny Anggraini, M.A., for her advice and time that she had spent from the beginning of the thesis writing until I can finish my whole thesis. Without her help I would not be able to finish this thesis.
I also would like to thank my co-advisor, Harris. H. Setiajid, S.S.,M.Hum., for his time to read my whole thesis and for his advice to revise this thesis. Thanks for the time and for the suggestions.
For my best friends, Weny Natalia, Tetty Florentina, and Nani Arifianti, thanks so much for the spirit that all of you have given to me. For my friends in English Letters Department especially 2005 students that always cheer me up when I was desperate, I want to thank them all. And thanks for The Importance of Being Earnest crews and casts for the friendship. All of my friends have given such a beautiful and crazy time in the college. Thank you.
MOTTO PAGE……….. . iv
DEDICATION PAGE………... v
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI………. vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……….... vii A. Review of Related Studies……….. 5
B. Review of Related Theories……… 7
1. Theories of Setting………. 7
C. Review of the history of Black People……… 14
D. Theoretical framework……… 18 A. The Discrimination in 1930s in Taylor’s Let the Circle Be Unbroken…. 25 B. The Struggle against Race Discrimination in the Society that Reflected in the Novel……….. 43
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……….. 59
as Seen in Taylor’s Let the Circle Be Unbroken. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
In the past time of United States, the race discrimination became a common issue. The discrimination happened in the United States because it was considered as a multicultural country and there was the separation between the minority and the majority class. The minority class was usually oppressed by the majority class. This was the result of the slavery that was done by the White people. The Blacks came to the United States as slaves and therefore the White people still considered them as the minority class that had lower position than the whites. That made the Whites oppressed the Blacks although they had gained their freedom. But the Blacks also did some struggle against the oppression. They did not remain silent of the discrimination. They struggled real hard against the race discrimination by the Whites. The race discrimination and the struggle are going to be analyzed based on the Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
The purpose of this study is to find out the discrimination experienced by the Blacks in the United States at that time as described in the novel. The other purpose is to show the struggle of Black people against racism in the United States society in 1930s as seen in Taylor’s Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
In this study, the real society in the United States is being compared with the condition in the novel. The approach that is used is the socio-historical approach. By this approach, the understanding of the real life of the society can be known and the main point is that the novel reflects the real society.
Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Pada masa yang lampau diskriminasi ras merupakan permasalahan umum di Amerika serikat. Diskriminasi ras terjadi karena Amerika Serikat merupakan suatu negara yang terdiri dari beberapa suku bangsa dan terdapat perbedaan antara kelas minoritas dan kelas mayoritas. Kelas minoritas selalu mengalami diskriminasi dari kelas mayoritas. Hal ini merupakan hasil dari perbudakan yang dilakukan oleh orang-orang kulit putih. Orang-orang-orang kulit hitam datang ke Amerika Serikat sebagai budak dan oleh karena itu, orang-orang kulit putih masih menganggap mereka sebagai kelas minoritas yang memiliki posisi yang lebih rendah dibandingkan orang-orang kulit putih. Orang-orang kulit putih pun masih mendiskriminasi orang kulit hitam walaupun mereka sudah bebas dari perbudakan. Tetapi, orang-orang kulit hitam juga berjuang untuk melawan diskriminasi itu. Mereka tidak tinggal diam. Mereka berusaha cukup keras untuk melawan diskriminasi yang dilakukan orang kulit putih. Diskriminasi ras dan usaha inilah yang akan dianalisis berdasarkan Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
Skripsi ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui diskriminasi di Amerika Serikat pada waktu itu seperti yang terdapat dalam novel. Tujuan yang lain adalah untuk mengetahui usaha yang dilakukan orang kulit hitam dalam melawan diskriminasi di Amerika Serikat pada tahun 1930 seperti novel Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
Dalam skripsi ini, kehidupan nyata di Amerika Serikat dibandingkan dengan kondisi yang terdapat pada novel. Pendekatan yang digunakan adalah pendekatan sosio-historikal. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan tersebut, pemahaman tentang kenyataan hidup masyarakat dapat diketahui dan pemikiran utamanya adalah bahwa novel menggambarkan kenyataan yang sesungguhnya.
A. Background of the Study
Literary work is a part of art that expresses human feeling and creativity. It is a means to express the thought of the writer. By reading literary work, readers can find out what a writer has in mind, what a writer feels, and so on. Sometimes literary work itself represents the background or the psychology of the writer. That is why it is really interesting to read literary work and to deal with it. In this paper, literary work which will be analyzed is Let the Circle be Unbroken by Mildred. D. Taylor. This is a story of a Black family in a Black community which experiences the oppression from the White people. In this novel, the oppression is seen clearly. The Blacks are oppressed from so many aspects, for example political aspect and also economical aspect. It is shown that the Black family, with the Logan family as the center in this novel, struggle to gain their equality and to struggle against the poverty.
oppression. They are also helping each other even though they suffer. Those things make this novel more interesting to read and to understand.
The oppression from White people has been experienced by the Blacks since long time ago. Black people were brought to United States from Africa to be White people’s slaves. Therefore, until now Black people are still considered lower than White people. The Blacks also did not have the right in political matters such as to vote although they have become United States citizens. Besides, there are lots of laws that make the Blacks under-pressure. Even, there is segregation between the Whites’ public equipments and the Blacks’. The Blacks are not allowed to use the equipments that are prepared for the White people (Karenga, 1993: 121-122).
The Blacks are treated inhumanely by the Whites. There are no exceptions. The Whites are superior, and the Blacks are inferior. That is the rule. The sense of superiority in White people’s mind has become a habit and it is innate. It is surprising that even a child can know the invisible barrier between Black and White. It shows that oppression is inherited from generation to generation.
on the contrary it puts Black people into despair. That is why the Blacks live in poverty. It is really hard to find Black people who live wealthily. Therefore, the Blacks are struggling to be free from the discrimination. Black people are also human that should be treated equally as a human. They also want the equality between Black and White. They want to have a better life. That is why they are struggling against the race discrimination done by the Whites. They do not want to remain silent and accept such treatments every day in their whole life.
Discrimination is a common issue which still can be found in present time. Discrimination usually occurs in the multicultural countries. Those are the countries that have more than one culture or race. It occurs because there are majority and minority class. The majority class usually oppresses the minority class because they think that they have power. Such discrimination actually still occurs until this time, consciously or unconsciously. The novel reflects the condition of the Blacks at that time which really happens in the true life.
B. Problem Formulation
1. How is the discrimination in United States in 1930s described through the social setting in Taylor’s Let the Circle Be Unbroken?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are to find out the discrimination in the United States at that time like what is described in the novel and to know how the novel reflects the racism of Black people. The other aim is to show the struggle of Black people against racism in the United States in 1930s.
D. Definition of the Terms
1. Discrimination
The International Encyclopedia of Ethics states that discrimination is differential treatment based on physical and social affiliation (Roth, 1995: 156).
2. Black People
A. Review of Related Studies
Let the Circle Be Unbroken is a novel about racism in America. Mildred D. Taylor has written several books and some of them also tell about the Logan family. This story is actually based on her own family story. The Logan family here can be said as the representation of her own family. This story itself follows the story from her grandfather who bought land and then continued until what was presented in her novel, Let the Circle Be Unbroken.
The Logan stories closely follow the history of Taylor’s own family, from her great-grandfather’s purchase of land in Mississippi in the 1880s to their move to Ohio in the 1940s. Her last novel planned for the saga, Logan, will take the Logan family from their home in Mississippi to their new home in Ohio. Taylor is currently working on this novel, the final episode in the Logan family saga. (http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/taylor_mildred/)
Black people in the United States; it reflects their social life and the segregation that the Blacks had to face at that time.
Just like what Pierce said, the novel Let the Circle Be Unbroken tells about the Afro-Americans in the Great Depression era. It is necessary to understand the background of that era to understand what kind of life the African-American had to face. The African-American at that time had faced terrible life during the Depression. In this era of Great Depression, even the white people faced the terrible time in their life. Then, it was not surprising that Black people became more suffered in this Great Depression era.
The sequel, “Let the Circle Be Unbroken,” gives further details of the Logan family and their struggle against prejudice and poverty. It is important that the students understand what life was like for Americans, especially African-Americans, during the Great Depression—a time of crisis for most people. The student will need a factual background of this era prior to studying the literature.
(http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/guides/1992/4/92.04.03.x.html)
Pierce notices that the novel might be related with the society in America at that time. The novel is a reflection of the Blacks’ life and how they can endure the bad life that they have and how they can struggle against the oppression. And, although they face hard time in their life, they do not lose their love to each other.
discriminations. They become motivated and can think to do something that maybe can change their life.
Set in the 1930s in the deep South, this novel makes an excellent addition to social studies courses covering that period and place in U.S history. The characters bring a human dimension to the economic, racial, and social issues
that form the background of action. (http://eolit.hrw.com/hlla/novelguides/hs/Mini-Guide.Taylor.pdf)
From the quotation above, it can be drawn that the Black people also do some action against the oppression that they got from White people. They make the oppression toward their social, racial and economic life as the background of their acts. It means that they also do something to against the discrimination itself. This is the matter that will be discussed in the analysis later. This analysis is different because most of the study concern about the discrimination or the history itself. This analysis concerns in the struggle that is done by the Black people. Their struggle against the discrimination will be analyzed deeper in this thesis.
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theories of Setting
relation between setting and events. Sometimes the season atmosphere, etc in the novel can reflect the feelings of the characters. It also can reflect the situation that is encountered by the characters in the novel.
These words make clear the relation between setting and events. The seasons and the landscape are not pleasant, incidental decorations of the novel; they shape and reflect the feelings of the characters. (Gill, 1995: 150)
The setting can also reveal the writer’s point of view about the world or about a certain society. They create the atmosphere, landscape, the condition of houses etc to convey the condition of the society and their perspective about the world.
There are some novelists who create settings for the purpose of giving their views about the world. Such a novelist creates landscapes, townscapes, interiors of houses and the weather in order to convey his or her particular feelings and views about life. A reader can look at these and se, to put it simply, what the author thinks about things. (Gill, 1995: 153)
As noted before that the setting can reveal the condition of a certain society. Then, Langland stated in her book entitled Society in the Novel that society is a concept and a construct in fiction. In the past, the society itself is considered as an imitation of an outside world. (1984: 4)
2. Theories of Character
Characters are the person in dramatic or narrative work with particular qualities which are expressed in what they say or what they do. There are two kinds of characters that can be found in a novel, the character can change or remain stable (Abrams, 1981: 21). The character that remains stable called the flat character and the character that experienced changing called round character. As E. M. Forster said (as cited in A Glossary of Literary Terms) a flat character is built around “a single idea or quality” while the round character is complex in temperament and motivation. He is difficult to describe and like most of the people he is capable of surprising us. There are two ways of describing the character of the person, they are showing and telling. In showing, the author presents the action of the person and then let the readers to infer what is behind the action and what characteristic the person has. In telling, the author expresses the character straightly.
This theory of character can be applied in the analysis to understand the behavior of the characters in the novel. Each of the character has their own characteristics; this theory will help to understand why a particular character does a particular action. Their actions might deal with the characteristics that they have.
3. Theories of Characterization
method is the explicit presentation. The second is the presentation of the character in action. And, the last is the representation from within a character (Holman, 1986: 81).
Murphy, as stated in his book Understanding Unseen, said that there are a few ways that the writer use to make his characters is understandable and come alive for the readers. The first way is using the personal description. By using this way, the author describes the person’s appearance for example the build, the skin color, the hair, and also the clothes that the person uses (1972: 161-162).
The second way is using the character as seen by another. The author does not describe a character directly but the author describes him through the opinions of the others and what the others seen. Then, the readers can get the reflected image of a character (1972: 162-164). The third is by using speech. The author gives an insight into the character of one of the persons in the book through what that person says. Whenever he speaks, having a conversation with another, or giving an opinion, actually he is giving some clues to his character (1972: 164-166).
Next way is the reactions. The author gives a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person reacts to various situations and events (1972: 167-168). The next is direct comment. The author gives direct comment or description on a person’s character directly (1972: 170). And the last way in this book is thoughts. The author gives direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. He is able to do what we cannot do in real life. He can also tell us what different people are thinking (1972: 171-172).
4. Theories of Discrimination
Based on the International Encyclopedia of Ethics, the definition of discrimination is differential treatment based on physical and social affiliation. It has negative impact on the human’s moral behavior (Roth, 1995: 231). The clear example of discrimination can be seen in the United States. There are several races that experienced discrimination such as racial, sexual, and religious discrimination. Beside that there is also discrimination against certain cultural groups, and against the disabled. There are a lot of kinds of discrimination that can be found in the US. And, the cruelest discrimination is the discrimination against the African-Americans (Roth, 1995: 232).
between race, redlining by financial institutions, and the continuous practice of low-paying job experienced by the minority group members. The minority itself means any group whose position is disadvantage (Roth, 1995:232). We can know a person or a group of people is in lower position from the reaction or their behavior toward certain group of people that considers as the majority people. A group of people is considered as the minority usually because they were treated unequally.
From the theory above, it can be known that a group of people that are discriminated can be known from several characteristics, such as segregated from the society, forced to do whatever the majority class wants from them, etc. Besides, the people who were discriminated usually live in poverty. They also usually get punished if they did not do what the majority class wants. By these characteristics, the people that experience discrimination can be seen clearly. This theory is useful to know the people that are discriminated and the people that discriminate them. By this theory the people that are being discriminated can be seen clearly since the characteristics have been known.
5. Theories of Poverty
In the International Encyclopedia of Ethics definition of poverty is the relative lack of wealth. All people are entitled to live lives of material and psychological prosperity. But unfortunately, the distribution of wealth throughout the world is not equal. There is also no solution to the problem. Because of poverty, there are a lot of people died for famines. The housing and shelter are often so inadequate. There is a theory that said the way to decrease the inequality is to redistributed wealth.
Kelly (as cited in International Encyclopedia of Ethics) said that the theory was impossible to achieve. The solution should not cause poverty. It means that Kelly suggests to create a win-win solution, to earn prosperity that can make he other gain prosperity also. But, the strategy of this win-win solution depends on the duty of the part the prosperous people to care those who are not having the prosperity.
We can know that a person live in poverty or not is based on how they managed their live. The people that live in poverty have to struggle really hard to earn money for living. They have to do kinds of job that have a lot of risks. The people who live in terrible poverty even have a difficulty to produce enough food for their family and the life gets very hard on them.
6. Theories of Motivation
Psychology states that motivation is a general term that refers to the regulating of an individual’s behavior as inner needs or drives that stimulates someone to satisfy his needs or to achieve a desired goal (Crow, 1973: 132). The motivation can push someone to do something to achieve what he wants. The continued functioning of an urge, in spite of one or two frustrating experiences, is the evidence of a strong push for a person to attain a particular goal. Such kind of persistence that continues until success is achieved is the significant characteristic of motivation (Crow, 1973: 132-133). This theory explains that there must be a reason behind what a person did. There is an urge to do some actions to achieve their goals and fulfill the desire. They must have a desire that can be called motivation so that they do some struggle to achieve it.
We can know a person that is motivated is from their action to achieve what they want. The people who are motivated by something will do a struggle to achieve their desires, their needs, and their goals. This theory is useful to understand why a person did something, in this case struggle. We also can know the goal that a person wants by doing such things. They must have something behind their action and by understand this theory we can understand why people do that particular thing.
C. Review on the History of Black People
when the first African slaves arrived in the North American colonies. In the past, the Africans in American were regarded as a chattel or persons regarded as fixed items of personal property. It means that the Africans were only regarded as a thing and not as a human. (Estell, 1994: 2)
The slave-masters did not consider them as human beings, so slave had no own right, will and need or feeling. They forbade slaves to hold property, to leave his master’s premises without permission, to be out of the dark, to congregate with other slaves except in church, to carry firearms, to strike with white men even for self-defense, etc. They were also forbid to testify in court against white people. And, if a slave master killed a slave while punishing them it did not consider as a crime. It was terrible for the slaves in America. (Current, 1979: 340)
The “Ku Klux Klan”, the “White Citizens Council” and many other racist organizations were founded to keep the black man “in his place” using threats, burnings and lynchings to reach this aim. But there were also new laws made in the South - the Black Codes were introduced, which limited the movement and rights of the freedmen and tried to establish the old master- and slave relationship. To keep blacks from registering to vote, poll taxes were raised, comprehension tests were held and the grandfather-clause was put into practice.
(http://www.studentshelp.de/p/referate/02/5919.htm)
The whites were hard to accept the constitution that made the slaves free. The whites only did little change of their attitudes toward black. Therefore, the blacks still live in discrimination although they were free from slavery (Estell, 1994: 38)
The American system of enslavements can be defined by: the extent of its brutality, its cultural genocide, and its machinery of control. The brutality of slavery can be seen from the physical, psychological, and sexual level. Physically includes violence in various forms such as whippings, mutilations, torture, murder, lynching, overworking and deprivation of food, clothing, and shelter. Psychology brutally includes daily humiliation, denial, and deformation of African history and humanity. (Karenga, 1993: 123)
By the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, lynching had become a weapon used by the whites against blacks throughout the country. Between 1882 and 1990, approximately 1750 African Americans were lynched in the United States. Victims, who included women, had been accused of a variety of “offenses” ranging from testifying in court against a white man to failing to use the word “mister” when addressing a white person. (Estell, 1994: 38)
The Great Depression began in 1929 until about 1939. It brought great effect on the life of America. The economical condition of America was in chaos and a lot of businesses were collapsed. A lot of citizens became unemployment. In 1933, millions of Americans were unemployment. The Depression in 1930 is the worst depression of all time (Batra, 1985: 126).
This calamity was the longest---economic activity remained below the trend line for ten years---as well as the deepest in history, because the economy at one point sank more than 40 percent below the trend line. (Batra, 1985: 126)
The Great Depression was caused by the imbalance of economy in U.S. But, the government took little attention to the business downturn, relying on the impersonal market forces to achieve necessary economic correction. These forces could not achieve the recovery but brought some changes in U.S.’ economic structure. After the Great Depression, government actions’ including the form of taxation, industrial regulation, etc, gave a principal role in ensuring stability. (http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/about.htm)
D. Theoretical Framework
help to understand the social condition that was shown in the novel. To use this theory the writer will try to understand the condition of society in the novel and then relate it with the condition in real life. This theory will be used to answer problem formulation number one.
Theories of character and characterization are used because related to the study about struggle and discrimination. Because the one who do the struggle and discrimination is human so the theories of character and characterization were also needed. To use these theories the writer applies it to understand the characteristic of the characters in the novel. These theories of character and characterization are related to struggle because the struggle was done by a person or a character. And the character who done the struggle must have a characteristic that can bring him to do the struggle. Because of that, these theories can be applied to understand what makes a character do the struggle. These theories are used to answer problem formulation number two.
Theories of discrimination were used to help the writer understand the meaning of discrimination itself and how the discrimination was. It also helps to understand the kinds of discrimination. To use these theories, the writer tries to understand the discrimination first and then find the proof and the condition of discrimination in the novel. This theory is useful to answer the problem formulation number one.
poverty occurs. To use this theory, the writer first reads the theory and then applies it to the novel. Then the writer can know the poverty that was experienced by the characters in the novel. This theory will be used for answering the second problem formulation.
The theory of motivation is needed to understand the behavior of someone. It is needed to give a little understanding about the reason why a person does something in his life. To use this theory, the writer read the theory and then finding the reason for the struggle in the novel. This theory will be used to help the writer answer the second problem formulation.
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is to analyze the struggle of the Black people that live in America in 1930. How that people are struggling against the discrimination and against the poverty that was caused by the discrimination itself. This is a novel written by Mildred D. Taylor entitled Let the Circle Be Unbroken. This novel consists of 14 chapters and 394 pages. It tells about Black family that lives in America in about 1930. This novel is the sequel of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and it was published by the Penguin Group, New York in 1991. Her first book, Song of the Trees, won the Council on Interracial Books for Children Award in 1974 and was published by Dial Books in 1975. Her second novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, won the 1977 Newbery Award from the American Library Association (http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/taylor_mildred/). The book that the writer reads, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, itself is the winner of the Coretta Scott King Award. It has also received an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and an NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Book in the Field of Social Studies. This book also has been nominated for the National Book Award.
Taylor tells about a trial that will be faced by a black boy. He was accused to rob and kill the owner of a shop. Here, Taylor described how the black people cooperate and try to make T.J safe from the death penalty. But, their struggle did not end here. Being the only Black landowner, the Logans are afraid that they cannot pay the taxes. They have to struggle or they will lose their land because the government raised the tax. That is not the only problem that was faced by the Logans. One of the member of Logans family was married a white woman and they have a girl already. There are still a lot of problems that the Blacks have to face in the novel written by Mildred D. Taylor.
The center of the story, the Logan family, was treated unequally and faced the discrimination. Not only Logans, the other Black family also experienced this kind of oppression. They try to struggle against the unequal treatment in many aspects, for example in law, economic and other aspects of Black’s life. Those struggles are what the writer wants to deal with in this study.
B. Approach of the Study
readers know about the historical background itself because by knowing the historical background the readers can understand the situation at that time. Without knowing the historical background, it is possible that a reader cannot get the meaning of the actions done by the characters inside the novel and the novel itself become meaningless. The readers cannot get the message and the experience that the writer of the novel wants to share with the readers. Sometimes a historical novel has several great historical backgrounds. This type of approach can not only be applied in the historical novel but it can also be applied in the ideological or propagandist novels. This socio-historical approach can also be applied for poems but it works better on novels because novels are more affected by extrinsic factors (1999: 53).
The writer assumes that the novel was produced by the condition of the society at that era because the novel has similarities with the real society that really occurs at that time. The condition of the society makes the writer of the novel can produce the story that reflected what is happened. By using this kind of approach, the writer will be able to reveal the connection of the society and the novel. The writer will be able to find out how the society influenced the ideas of the novel written by Mildred D. Taylor.
C. Method of the Study
A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, A Webster’s dictionary,
International Encyclopedia of Ethics, and General Psychology. The other source of the data was taken from the internet.
There were five steps that have been passed to do the research. The first step was to read the novel itself carefully and gain some understanding from the novel about the topic that was chosen. This step also gave the chance to make some notes, to find the quotation and also to summarize the story.
second problem, the theories of character and characteristic were used to understand each character in the novel. It can be understood from the dialogue of the characters and from statement from the other character. Beside that, the theory of prosperity was also used to know what prosperity and poverty are. The theory of motivation was used to understand why the people do some struggles in their life. In this part, the problems were answered orderly.
The novel Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor talks about the life of Black family in the United States that experiences discrimination by White people. In this analysis there are two problems that will be discussed as it has been stated in chapter I. Those problems will be divided into two parts. In the first part, the problem that will be discussed is the kind of discrimination that Black people faced. Then, the analysis will be continued to the second problem to discuss the struggle of Black people against the discrimination and poverty.
A. The discrimination in 1930 in Taylor’s Let the Circle Be Unbroken
In the novel Let the Circle Be Unbroken written by Mildred D. Taylor, there is a family that Taylor put as the center of the story. The family is the Logan family. It is a Black family, and just like the other Black families in that place; they experience discrimination by the White people. Their life is not easy since they are Black, but the Logan family keeps the family as a whole.
in the economic life, and in every aspects of human life. They are treated inhumanly by the Whites and they cannot do anything to against it. The life of the African American at that time is undoubtedly miserable because of the oppression of White people. This discrimination is actually related with the past. It is the time when the Black people come to America as a slave. And although the slavery has been abolished, the Whites still cannot accept that now they are equal. Therefore they still discriminate the Blacks.
The Logan family consists of seven members and four of them are the children of the family. In their age they have to see that they cannot live freely although they are ‘free’. They have to experience the discrimination in their early age although they do not know yet why the Whites oppress them. Sometimes they cannot accept the segregation. They have to learn a lot of things to understand that they are oppressed by the Whites.
There was so much to learn, too much of it bad. Water was water, a toilet a toilet. Were the people crazy? (Taylor, 1981: 59)
There are still a lot of experiences that the Blacks have to face. And most of them are bad for them. They have to experience the whites being impolite to them; they have to see their friend punished for something that he did not do, and so many things. Thus, in order to reveal the kinds of treatment from the Whites toward the Blacks, the writer will explain the discrimination that they face one by one.
1. The injustice law toward Black people
The opening of the novel Let the Circle Be Unbroken is showing the trial process of T.J. In this part, the unfair justice toward the Blacks is seen clearly. Based on the International Encyclopedia of Ethics, this is considered as the legal discrimination. Legal discrimination is the treatment of the law which is unequal (1995:232). The Black people at that time usually experience the injustice law. They often blamed for something that they never commit. And, they also cannot say something that against the White people although the one who is guilty is the White people. The jury and the prosecutors in a trial are all White. The Blacks actually have known that whether having a trial or not, in the end the Black will get the punishment.
“Yeah, jus’ like I figured,” said the old man who had sat under the tree throughout the ordeal. “Trial or lynching, it always be’s the same. Sho’ is. Always the same. . . .” (Taylor, 1981: 85)
prosecutor. Whoever the judge and the prosecutor, the jury will decide anything. And the jury is selected for the people that are registered to vote. It means that there is no Black people at all that can become a jury. Then, it can be predicted that the jurors have made up their mind before the trial began, without thinking about the truth and the justice.
“Selection of jurors is made from people registered to vote, Stacey. Seeing that there are no colored voters in Spokane County, there won’t be any colored voters to draw from. And even if there were and a colored person was called to duty, there’d be so much pressure on him, he probably wouldn’t serve anyway.” (Taylor, 1981: 39)
The other proof is also can be seen in the quotation below,
Papa was silent a moment before he observed, “I don’t s’pose it really matters that much who the judge or the prosecutor is, does it? It’s the jury’s gotta decide, and I figure it made up its mind long before that boy broke into that store.” (Taylor, 1981: 37-38)
The Blacks are actually feeling hopeless to have a trial. They know that they will not make it. The Whites are really unfair to them. And, since there are no Black people in the law, however the Black people testify to tell the truth, the jury will not trust them. Moreover, if they testify against a White person, the Whites can get angry to them. There is not a chance that the Whites will believe it although there is something that can become the proof.
Strawberry with them the night of the murder to get the pearl-handed gun. And you have heard the testimony of Mr. Judge Overton that he saw Simmses’ truck parked in back of the Mercantile an hour before R.W. and Melvin Simms said they were in town.” (Taylor, 1981: 80-81)
From the quotation above, we can see that everyone in the courtroom have heard the testimonies that prove that T.J. is not guilty. They actually also know that the proof strengthen that their accusation is false and maybe R.W. and Melvin Simms who are whites, are the people that done the murder. But, the jurors do not care about it. They keep their decision to punish T.J. for something that he did not do. And, they sentenced T.J. to death.
We did not have to wait long. In less than thirty minutes the jury returned. The vote poll was taken. Twelve men on the jury. Twelve votes of guilty. There was to be no mercy. T.J. received the death penalty. (Taylor, 1981: 84-85)
For the white people, their race is always done good things but sometimes the Blacks take advantages from them. And they close their eyes from the reality. That things sometimes make the decision that was made is actually wrong. But, the Blacks cannot do anything to against the decision that the jurors have made. They have no power to do that. From this case can be seen that the law that should protect their citizens and to stand on the truth and fight against the crime is unfair for the Blacks.
will make them even more suffered. And, it will be almost impossible for the Blacks to pass the test that in need to do while registering to vote.
“Foolishness. Plumb foolishness. Why I recalls the time colored folks gone to take that there test and the ole registrar, he puts out a jar of jelly beans and say for ‘em to tell him how many there is in a jar, and that there was yo’ test. Plumb foolishness!”
“Wasn’t so long ago neither,” said Mr. Morrison. “I seen that same thing jus’ a while back . . . man got lynched for his trouble. (Taylor, 1981: 328)
It is almost impossible for the Blacks to have the permission from their landowners to go to vote. If they dare to try to vote their landowners will kick them out from their plantation and they will not have any mercy. Most of the Blacks depends their life to White people. They work in the plantation and they have the permission to use the land as their home. But, once their landlord does not like them, it is easy for them to be kicked out. And, the blacks will not have any rights to stay in that plantation again.
“He’s not going to care,” Mama continued, “about your papa or your dreams. All he’s going to care about is that one of ‘his’ colored people is trying to do something he figures is white folks’ business, and believe me, Mrs Lee Annie—I know that man—when he doesn’t like something, that means there’s going to be trouble . . . for you. . . . Things could happen.” (Taylor, 1981: 195)
2. Discrimination in economic life
This kind of discrimination is the discrimination that makes the Blacks lives in poverty. The Whites oppress the Blacks in every aspects of their economic life. This discrimination is included in the institutional discrimination that is stated in the International Encyclopedia of Ethics. The institutional discrimination includes the redlining by financial institutions, and the continuous practice of low-paying job experienced by the minority group members (1995:232). The whites make a strict rule about the plantation and prevent the Blacks for having more crops than it should be. Sometimes the Whites also play some tricks so that the Blacks cannot have any crops. And of course it makes them suffered. They live in poverty for so long. Even the Blacks who have their own land just like the Logans are also deal with poverty because the Whites always increase the tax.
“Folks ‘croppin’ like the Turners and Miz Lee Annie and the Ellises, things are even harder for ‘em now than they were before the government stepped in. they’re hard on us too—don’t get me wrong—but on ‘croppin’ folks, well, it’s really bad. Lotta that money that was s’pose to go to them been ending up in the pockets of the landlords. Landlords claim the government money belongs to them ‘cause of the credit they give to folks ‘croppin’ their land. Claim that all the people ‘croppin’ on their places owe them money and some of ‘em I guess are telling the truth on that. (Taylor, 1981: 103)
hardly have the money to pay it. But, once they agree, the White landowner can take their land.
“’Cause, Stacey, he pay our taxes and his name’ll get on our tax record, and then one day he could put in his claim against our land. Could take it to court and the land maybe could become his.” (Taylor, 1981: 100)
The White landowners can do a lot of tricky things to have the land. They cannot stand if there is a Black family that has their own land. They want all Black people under their control. They also make the rule of the plantation about how many crops that they can plant and they always make the new rule that burden the Blacks. In the time they plant cotton and the cotton has bloomed, the government with no heart told them that they make a new rule and that they have to plow up many of the crops because it against the new rule and there is too much cotton to be planted.
“. . . uh . . . we’re finding that there’s been a miscalculation. The AAA committees made a mistake in figuring the likely production of certain acreage, and based on the figures they turned in to the state board, Mr. Farnsworth allowed too much cotton to be planted. Well, uh, now that the committees discovered their mistake, we’re gonna have to correct it.” (Taylor, 1981: 238)
“Now . . . uh . . . Orris . . . ya gonna have to plow up everything from the road to—“ (Taylor, 1981: 239)
3. Segregation and separation between Black and White
The segregation in public places is a common kind of discrimination that the Blacks usually have. The International Encyclopedia of Ethics said that there are two types of discrimination and the segregation is included in the institutional discrimination. The institutional discrimination (racism) is the unequal treatment based on the race in social custom. This type of discrimination includes segregation between races (1995:232). This segregation differentiates the things that can be used by White people and Black people. The Blacks are usually well aware of what parts of the things that are belong to them and which one that they cannot use. The segregation that can be found in the novel is the segregation in the courthouse. In the courthouse White people only provide a little space for the Blacks to watch a trial. And, the Blacks also cannot sit side by side with the Whites in the court. The Whites provide a ‘special’ place for the Blacks where they cannot mix with the Whites.
We returned to the old man and asked him if he thought we could sit inside. He laughed. “Y’all younguns see that speck of space the coloredfolks squattin’in? Ain’t none of ‘em gon’ move ‘cause they’s ‘fraid they lose their space.”
“You mean that’s all he room there is for the colored?” said Stacey.
“What y’all see is all they is. White folks thinkin’ they’s doin’ good to ‘lows that much.”
We thanked the man for his information, then settled beside him to wait for the trial to resume. We decided that since we could not get into the courtroom, we could station ourselves close enough to the windows to at least see T.J. (Taylor, 1981: 52)
only the segregation that can be found in the novel. The other is the segregation to use the toilet in public places. In this case the toilet is also in the courthouse. At the door of the toilet there is a mark that has the implied meaning ‘just for the Whites’. The door is marked ‘gentlemen’ for the male toilet and ‘ladies’ for female toilet. Those two terms are only used to address White people. And, it means that the toilets are just for White men and women. Black people cannot use the toilets for any reasons. However badly they need to use the toilets, they were prohibited to use it. If the Blacks use it intentionally or unintentionally, they will get into a lot of trouble. They even can be dead if there is a white people that saw them using the toilets.
Besides, the water in the water fountain also cannot be drunk by the Blacks. That is not a property that made for Black people to use. The Whites will not like it if they know that the Blacks use it. It will be unpleasant for the Whites and they can put the Black who used it into great trouble. There is actually no written sign that says it belongs to the Whites, but there is an unwritten rule that has to be followed by all Black people. There is an unwritten rule that says the fountain is prohibited for the Blacks and the Blacks have to be aware of that rule.
Jeremy didn’t answer as he looked nervously around him “C-Cassie, you can’t—you can’t drink from there. Ya best get ‘way ‘fore somebody sees ya.” “You crazy? You ain’t Stacey. You can’t be tellin’ me what to do—“
Before I could finish, Jeremy grabbed my arm and pulled me several feet from the fountain. I jerked loose, furious. “Boy, you jus’ wait till we get outside—“ (Taylor, 1981: 56-57)
she saw a white woman drink from the fountain. She thinks that every people can drink from the fountain. She also thinks that the toilet can be used by everyone. She is still not aware of the unwritten rule that has been made by the Whites. She is also unaware of the danger of using that fountain so that she got mad to Jeremy, who actually wants to save her.
Jeremy answered for us. “They was in the courthouse, Stacey. Cassie, she . . . she was drinking the water and Christopher-John and Little Man, they was using the toilet.”
Stacey’s face changed. He glanced anxiously from Jeremy to Christopher-John, Little Man, and me, then back to Jeremy. “Anybody see ‘em?” (Taylor, 1981: 58)
Stacey is really mad to hear that his brothers and sister using those items for white people. He is afraid that someone will see them and will make them into trouble. He is angry to his brothers and sister. It shows that the White people at that time are really cruel to the Blacks. They will do anything to punish the Blacks who against the rule, written or unwritten, that they have made. And, if they kill a Black people because they want to punish them, the law will not touch them and it will not consider as a crime. It can be proved from so many Black people who are being lynched by the Whites just because of a simple matter.
From this quotation, the Black people are seen very afraid of doing something wrong. Because if they ever done something that against the Whites they will live more miserable. Those things are showing the segregation clearly. And because of the segregation the Blacks live more suffered.
Consciously or unconsciously, there is a separation between Black and white. Actually this is more or less the same with the segregation but, this separation is what the Blacks have in their social life. It means that this kind of discrimination can be seen from the way they make friends and socialize. The White do not want to make friend with the black and the black will think about it twice to have relation with white people. They just want to make friend with their own race. To make friend with a Black is a disgrace for the Whites. But, there are some people that make friend with Blacks too. Of course there are just several whites who want to do it. The Black man also cannot marry a white woman and if there is a Black who dares to do that, surely a lot of troubles are waiting for him. This is the picture of the life in the United States at that time.
what the Whites have done. And, when there is a white boy that flirts with a black girl, the people will think about something bad.
“’Cause when a white boy’s ‘round a colored girl, they’s up to no good, that’s why. You jus’ remember that.” (Taylor, 1981: 147)
There is no good sign if there is a white boy approaching a black girl. They think that every girl will admire them and they can do anything toward the black girl. That is why the black girl has to take a good care of themselves. The relationship between Blacks and Whites are also stated in the law that said that the Black and White cannot be married. There is a law about the marriage and it is unlawful for a black to marry a white people.
The law said: “The marriage of a white person with a Negro or mulatto, or person who shall have one-eighth or more of Negro blood, shall be unlawful and void.” (Taylor, 1981: 226)
The Blacks think that a white woman is a dangerous person that should be left alone. The white woman is a stranger that ruled them and a person from a place that they will never know. There is no chance for the white woman to enter the Blacks life. The Black people are really afraid to get along with a white woman and once she is with them, she should be sent away as quickly as possible because she will bring trouble to the Black people who dare to have a relationship with her.
Although there is a law, but sometimes there is a person who dare to against it. But as the result, the Whites will torture them. This is happen to a member of Logan family, Cousin Bud. He lives in New York and he was married to a white woman. All of his family was shocked to hear that. Cousin Bud feels guilty but it has already happen. He also thinks that it is actually not that bad if he married with a white woman. But, the circumstances cannot accept it.
“You know, Mary, it ain’t all that awful being married to somebody white. I mean it’s awful ‘cause of what folks say and think and what some folks’ll do, but when it comes right down to it, they’re just folks like us.” (Taylor, 1981: 165)
It shows that actually the Blacks and Whites are the same. The matter is just in the circumstances that think the Whites are more superior to the Blacks. The thought of White person who marry the Black is disgraceful. The feeling of worry about the punishment the Blacks will get if they do such thing make them afraid. And, the thought that the White is much better than the Black also made the marriage is forbidden. The feeling of superiority makes the White underestimate the Blacks. They think the Black person who dares to marry a White woman has done a sin and therefore he has to be punished. In this case, Cousin Bud is being mocked in front of his daughter and nephews by several white boys because he married a white woman.
“Her mother . . . she—she’s real light-skinned—“
“Yeah, now that’s just what we heard. Heard the fact she’s so light, she’s white. Now what you say ‘bout that? You been bedding a white woman?” (Taylor, 1981: 343)
Stuart turned to him angrily. “You jus’ shut your mouth, Joe Billy. You ain’t got the stomach for this, then get back in the car. As for me, I’m gonna find out ‘bout this nigger—you heard me boy. Get them clothes off!”
Cousin Bud’s whole body trembled. “Please,” he pleaded. “Not in front of my daughter—“ (Taylor, 1981: 344-345)
The other proof is also can be seen in the below quotation,
Cousin Bud did as he was told. He stood there, his back to us, his body shaking with only his shorts left to cover him. I looked away, feeling his humiliation. (Taylor, 1981: 346)
That thing was done by several white boys. They show no respect to a black man like Cousin Bud. They do such thing because they heard that he married to a white woman. Cousin Bud also has no power to fight them because if he does that he will get more troubles. The black only can accept that kind of treatment. The other thing is the matter to address white people properly. By the differences of addressing white people, the separation is seen clearly. The white can address the Black people as they like and they do not have to show respect even to the Black people that older than them. But, the Black people have to address the White people in respect. They have to be polite even to a white that younger than them.
Stuart’s eyes left Suzella and fell on me. “You best watch you manners, gal.” (Taylor, 1981: 246)
Stuart’s voice ran smooth again. “You being from the North, Miss Suzella, you most likely don’t know that down here we demands respect from our nigras. We let something like this slide by, they’ll go walking all over us,” (Taylor, 1981: 246)
From the quotation, it can be seen that Stuart, the white boy, address Suzella, who he think is white, with “miss”. But, he talked to Cassie using the word ‘gal’. The separation here is seen clearly. He also said that, White people demand respect from Black people, and to say that he use the word ‘our nigras’. It shows that the whites consider the black people as their belonging not as an equal human being. The way to speak to Suzella is different with the way he speaks to Cassie. He speaks smoothly to Suzella and speaks roughly to Cassie. It shows that the white only speak in respect to their own race while to the black they speak harshly.
“How do there, Mary?” Stuart said as we pulled up. (Taylor, 1981: 272)
Mama was a good fourteen years older than Stuart, and for her to have to show him respect when he did not do the same for her was galling. (Taylor, 1981: 272)
The white boys in the United States do not show respect to the older Black woman. They think that even they are older, but still they are black people that have lower status than the whites. From all the quotations above it is clear that there is a differentiation in treatment between the treatment toward Black people and toward White people. This is also the kind of discrimination that can be found in the United States.
woman differently with their own folks. They treat the Black woman as if the black woman is not worthy and they can have the black woman for the taking. They are just taking the advantages from their skin color. They think that black women are easy to get and to be left. The black family will not dare to touch the white man if they mess with the black woman. If the woman is pregnant or something happen with the woman, the law will not touch the white man. It is hard if a black woman can be teased by the white man. This treatment is not fair for the blacks since the whites can do anything toward the black woman while the blacks are forbidden even just to gaze at a white woman.
This is the other kind of discrimination that a black woman have. The white think that the black women always admire the white man and because of that they are easy to be teased by the white man. The white people also think that every man in that place will admire their woman. That is why when a black man dares to approach their women they start to talk about lynching and something like that.
“A white man think he can just have his way with colored women, can have them for the taking. I’ve known ‘em to go to black man’s house while that man was in the field working trying to take care of his family, and the colored woman didn’t have more respect than to take up with him. I’ve known too of colored women telling their husbands or their daddies or their brothers ‘bout white men trying to mess with them, and I’ve seen their menfolks killed for trying to protect their women. (Taylor, 1981: 175)
with the white women, the white men also can kill the black men. The black men have no choice and they have to accept that kind of treatment.
“You just look ‘round you and see how they treat our women, then you take a look at how they treat their own women. They think every man in the world wants one of their women, and if a colored man even look sideways at one of ‘em, they start talking about lynching. A colored man caught carrying ‘round a picture of a white girl like Cassie got of this white boy wouldn’t be long for this world. (Taylor, 1981: 175)
Whatever the black man do, White people will not make the black man live long in this world. Although they just want to save their own women, the white man will not care about it. The only thing that the Whites want to know is Black people do not mess with the white people for any reason. Besides, the black girl also experienced bad treatment from white boy. White boys often tease the black girls but they do it just for fun. The white boys think that the black girls are easy to be teased especially by whites. They also think that they have power because of the color of their skin so that if the girl was pregnant or if something bad happen to the girl, the parents of the girl can do nothing against them. The parents cannot ask the white boys to take the responsibility for their daughter.
That she was pregnant was bad enough; that the father was Stuart Walker, a white boy, was total disaster. Had the father been black, Mr. Peters could have seen to it that the boy married Jacey and Jacey’s future should have been saved, but with a white boy there was no recourse. All the shotguns in the world gave Mr. Peters no power where a white boy was concerned. (Taylor, 1991: 262)
accept her condition then accept the child from a white boy then maybe her life can be better. But, if she does not get a man that want to marry with her because she is pregnant with a white man then maybe she should be alone and continue her life with the child from a white boy. Those things are the way the whites and the blacks get along in their social life.
Those are the kinds of discrimination that can be found in the United States. To live as a Black people at that time is really hard. They have to deal with poverty because of the discrimination. They even have to live in worry because of the threat of the lynching and they have to be very careful when deal with white people. The life is even worse for the woman that has relationship with a white woman. But, those are the reality of the United States and the life of African American at that time.
B. The Struggle against Race Discrimination in the Society that are Reflected in the Novel
As stated before, the Black people experienced such a hard time in their life in the 1930s. This is the reflection of the society at that time in the United States. They were being oppressed from time to time. Their right as a human being has been taken from them. They were treated inhumanly by the Whites. That kind of treatment last for so long. And the author of Let the Circle Be Unbroken tries to represent the real society into the novel.
struggle that the Blacks do to face the discrimination and the poverty that become the result of the discrimination itself. The struggle that the Blacks attempt is also the reflection from the society at that time in the United States. The Blacks were, indeed, experienced the race discrimination by the Whites. They were in the lower position that does not have the power to do anything, but although they know about it, they do not want to remain silent and accept all the treatment from white people. They also keep on struggling although they know that it is so hard for them to do that.
Based on the General Psychology, motivation is a general term that refers to the regulating of an individual’s behavior as inner needs or drives that stimulates someone to satisfy his needs or to achieve a desired goal (1973: 132). It explains that the Black people do such kind of struggle like what is written in the novel because they have their own motivation. The motivation that they have is because they want a better life and a better future. They also want the equality among the Black and White. Those things are the motivations that make them dare to do some struggle against the White people.
1. The Struggle against the Injustice Law
The struggle here can be seen from the first part of the novel. In the case of T.J., the Blacks are perfectly well aware that T.J. will not make it. The trial will end up in punishment. But, they do not want to give up. They have a friend named Mr. Jamison that wants to help them to make T.J. free from the death penalty. Mr. Jamison keeps telling the Logan family about the trial. He has said the truth about it and what will happen if the trial failed. The son of the Logan family also does an attempt to safe T.J. although his parents do not agree with that. He also against his parents command to stay at school and he go to see the trial. Well, actually this is not the kind of struggle that is important but if it is seen deeply this struggle is really important for the people inside.
“Mama, I gotta go! T.J. gonna need me. Maybe there’s something I can say. Maybe tell ‘em ‘bout him comin’ here that night—“ (Taylor, 1981: 34)
The quotation shows how Stacey concern about his friend, T.J., and he wants to testify, he wants to do what he can to safe T.J. without concerning about his own safety. Although his parents do not agree with him, he has shown his loyalty toward his friend. He tries to do that so that his friend does not lose his hope and keep his spirit to face the trial. That is also includes the struggle that the Black people attempt to do. And, for the case of T.J. they have done all they could and they realize that they cannot do anything else to help him.
town might just get to thinkin’ you was one of them boys broke in that store with T.J.” (Taylor, 1981: 35)
In this case, Mr. Jamison is actually a white man, but he tries to defend T.J. in the court. He also cooperates with the Logan family to help T.J. in his trial. He supports T.J. and ensures Logan family that they have a hope to safe T.J. if they have a trial. He thinks that he will have a chance to win the case if T.J. can testify in the court. He does that kind of thing and makes himself become an enemy for his own mankind just to help the Black people to gain the fair justice.
“Son, I’ll promise you this. I’ll be doing all I can. What I’m planning to do is put T.J. on the stand. That means, of course, that he’ll have to admit to the burglary. But if he can testify, I’m hoping that I can convince the jury that he was not the one who killed Jim Lee Barnett. If I don’t put him on the stand, we don’t have anything. (Taylor, 1981: 39)
That is the reason why Mr. Jamison wants T.J. to have a trial. Beside that, the Logan family is also struggling by praying for T.J. they always pray for T.J. so that T.J. can pass the trial. And they also expect that there will be a miracle that safe T.J. from the legal lynching that the Whites attempt to do to T.J. They do that kind of things although T.J. was not their family. He is only the friend of the Logan family and they show their solidarity between Blacks. It shows that under the oppression the Blacks keep their friendship.
The Logan children also go to see the trial although their parents forbid them. Their parents do not want their children see the reality that will be faced by T.J. But, they think that they have to be with T.J. because they also know that maybe they cannot see T.J. again after the trial. They know that their parents will whip them if they know their children go to the trial but they prefer to take the risk. That is the friendship between the Blacks. That can be consider as struggle because they do an attempt and they have motivation to do it.
“Ah, Stacey, what they gonna get into?” questioned Little Willie. “Look, you gonna get a whipping anyways you look at it, so why don’t we go on in like we planned so’s we can be with T.J. and come on back ‘fore your folks get a chance to be worried. We’ll all watch for ‘em.” (Taylor, 1981: 49)
Those are the struggle of Black people to gain the fair justice for their friend. This kind of struggle can be seen in the society in that time. The unfair justice is indeed happen at that time and they do their struggle to gain the fair justice for them. Lynching is a common punishment that the Blacks have to face in their daily life. But they have the motivation to gain the better life. That is what makes them dare to do the struggle to have their right.
woman who did the struggle so that she can register to vote. She reads all of the constitution and she even understands and can memorize all of the contents in the constitution. She does that because she wants to vote just like what her father did in the past time. She is also want to show to the white people that an old black woman like her can understand the constitution well.
If there is someone that wants to go to vote, they have to take the test. But the registrar will not pass the black people. And, the white people will beat them and possibly will kill them. This is what will be faced by Mrs. Lee Annie if she wants to go to vote. But, she takes that risk to gain her right that has been taken by the white people.
She laughed again. “Well, I wanna know now and I figures I found out for myself. Not be askin’ some ole white man who be tellin’ me jus’ what he wants me to know.” She was thoughtful, her rough hands fingering the page. “I had any gumption, maybe I’d even go try and vote.” (Taylor, 1981: 114) “Body gotta take a test to vote, though. Test be’s on what’s in this book here. This here constitution.” (Taylor, 1981: 114)
Mrs. Lee Annie did not change her mind. The most devoted of students, she listened intently to Mama’s explanations of the constitution and laboriously attempted to commit them to memory. There were nearly 300 sections of the constitution and Mrs. Lee Annie wanted to know each and every of them. Already she could quote many of them word for word, but it was the understanding she needed and was determined to have. Her enthusiasm for learning was, in fact, so strong that it proves contagious, affecting Big Ma, Mr. Tom Bee, and even me. (Taylor, 1981: 196)
Her mind as she had said many times before, was made up, and as the day darkened toward evening and people began to head for home, they could only shake their heads at her hardheadedness and wish her well. (Taylor, 1981: 328)
Mrs. Lee Annie Lees has been studied about the constitution for a year and she has understood all about the constitution and she even can memorize all of the section in the constitution word per word. It takes a long time to memorize all the 300 sections, but Mrs. Lee Annie did not give up. And as the result, she can pass one year and memorized it all. Although at first people around her cannot accept her idea, but she can make it this far. Because she has been struggling for one year, she keeps her willing to go to vote. When she thinks that she is ready, she told everyone that she want to go to register. She has made up her mind and all of the people who know about it tend to support her although they are pessimistic.
“Gonna go to register. I figures I’m ready. I knows all that’s in that book and I’m ready to answer them registrar’s questions.” She looked at Mama. “Don’t you think I’m ready, Mary?” (Taylor, 1981: 326)
