Whether a character is imprisoned by his own inability to shake loose from discomfort, or enslaved through none of his own doing, the universal human sentiment is to set the character free. Meanwhile I disagree with Hochman when she writes that the book's "direct attack on the peculiar institution subverted its claim to timelessness" and adds that because it "critiqued a social evil in a particular historical period" it failed

Election of Obama and the Problems of the Social Dynamic There has not been any positive change in social dynamics as a result of the election of the first African-American president. If anything, race relations have worsened under the Obama Administration: the Black Lives Matter movement has come into being as a result of police violence on black citizens; there is a definite push back against the Politically Correct crowd

Mookie's frustrated acts show that violence is sometimes justified as a means of "self-defense," in Malcolm X's words. Bigger did not have access to the words of wisdom of either Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr. More importantly, Bigger did not have access to a community of like-minded African-Americans who could sympathize with if not totally condone the use of violence to preserve cultural integrity and pride. Mookie and

Faulkner's attitude on race relations at the outset of the civil rights movement in the south is best expressed in one of his lesser works, Intruder in the Dust. The main theme in this book is a simple one: an old black man, Lucas Beauchamp, known for his temper is accused of murdering a white man by the name of Vinson Gowrie in the South, and his friends must prove

If there is a tendency among readers to view Malcolm X as a radical figure, especially where compared to peaceful counterparts like Dr. King, the autobiography helps to show racism in a light that makes Malcolm X extremely sympathetic, or at least a rational product of his time. Narratives from his upbringing, especially in his father's work as a black revolutionary and in his family's constant state of moving to escape threats, are especially demonstrative of

The novel opens seven years after Gabo's mother, Ximena, was murdered by coyotes -- or paid traffickers -- during an attempt to cross the border. Her mutilated body was found, her organs gone -- sold most likely. Because of the fear surrounding this border town and the lure of the other side, all of the characters become consumed with finding Rafa. These people are neglected and abused. Like other fiction