Societies are corrupt when racism thrives within in them. This is because race separates groups of people by their typical values and morals. Racism is treating an entire race differently based upon stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, and active hostility; it affects an individual adversely and raise the corruptness in society. A corrupt, racist society can affect how a character grows and what their obstacles of life are. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines point out the oblivious corruptness of their societies due to racism; this is done by shaping characters’ backgrounds, standings in the community, and interactions or dialogues with other characters through characterization.
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Janie, in other people’s eyes, acts specifically based off her heritage. Since Janie is mixed with Caucasian descent, others in the black community think she acts differently in a bad way. For example, her first husband, Logan, thinks Janie acts in this manner. He says, “ You think you’re white folks by de way you act” (Hurston 30). In Logan’s eyes, he thinks that a black woman must be happy as a black man’s wife and that it is sinful for Janie to “act out” like a white person and not do vigorous work like she is conventionally expected to do. She is expected to work like a mule. Unfortunately, people see her and place her in standards she must conform to. Hurston wants the readers to know that race is the defining factor of behavioral expectations in a corrupt society; it ultimately puts the pressure of labels and stereotypical expectations on anyone who is different. Grant Wiggin’s community standing is similar to Janie’s because it is also defined by being different and stereotyped. Grant knows that race typecasts everything about a person: their interactions with others, their dialogues, and their habits. He says to a white man, “‘I have no idea.’ He stared at me, and I realized that I had not answered him in the proper manner. ‘Sir,’ I added” (Gaines 21). He knows that he must call this man by the title of “Sir” because he stands higher than Grant in the arrangements of society since he is white. Grant is restricted of free self-expression because of the behavior he must demonstrate to certain people. By including this dialogue in the novel, Gaines wants to deliver the social message that unfair conventions are evident in the degenerate society they live in. Gaines and Hurston similarly illustrate the corruptness of society through community standings that are constrained by
Janie, in other people’s eyes, acts specifically based off her heritage. Since Janie is mixed with Caucasian descent, others in the black community think she acts differently in a bad way. For example, her first husband, Logan, thinks Janie acts in this manner. He says, “ You think you’re white folks by de way you act” (Hurston 30). In Logan’s eyes, he thinks that a black woman must be happy as a black man’s wife and that it is sinful for Janie to “act out” like a white person and not do vigorous work like she is conventionally expected to do. She is expected to work like a mule. Unfortunately, people see her and place her in standards she must conform to. Hurston wants the readers to know that race is the defining factor of behavioral expectations in a corrupt society; it ultimately puts the pressure of labels and stereotypical expectations on anyone who is different. Grant Wiggin’s community standing is similar to Janie’s because it is also defined by being different and stereotyped. Grant knows that race typecasts everything about a person: their interactions with others, their dialogues, and their habits. He says to a white man, “‘I have no idea.’ He stared at me, and I realized that I had not answered him in the proper manner. ‘Sir,’ I added” (Gaines 21). He knows that he must call this man by the title of “Sir” because he stands higher than Grant in the arrangements of society since he is white. Grant is restricted of free self-expression because of the behavior he must demonstrate to certain people. By including this dialogue in the novel, Gaines wants to deliver the social message that unfair conventions are evident in the degenerate society they live in. Gaines and Hurston similarly illustrate the corruptness of society through community standings that are constrained by