The people in this country have been embedded with the idea to have power and ability to govern themselves to a life that is exceptional. This fire burns within the minds of governments, companies, average men and in this case what is considered the lowest class: African Americans. In a country where there is constant struggle for racial equality, whether in an urban or back-woods country setting, race dictates power for characters like Emmett Till in “The Ballad of Emmet Till”, by Bob Dylan, Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, and Mama in A Raisin In The Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. All these characters vary in how they are persecuted yet are bonded by their struggle. ...view middle of the document...
Tom simply states this as " Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you'd be scared, too" (Lee 261 ). Here, Tom makes us all understand his distress at this time. He knew what the consequences would be for being caught with a white woman. Tom has no choice but to be scared. The people of Maycomb, the town in the story, don't give people like Tom Robinson, Mayella or Boo Radley a chance. Most of their lives have been imposed by someone with more authority. It's has gone so far that Tom’s fate is being decided in a biased court of law. Atticus Finch, a lawyer, tries to open the eyes of the court as he says “But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal---- there is one human institution...That institution, gentlemen, is a court. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.” (Lee 274). Atticus can’t persuade the jury that suppose to be impartial into letting Tom go. The whole town knows the outcome even before the trial because as Mrs. Maudie puts it “ its like a Roman carnival”(Lee 213).
Mama from A Raisin In The Sun is one of the people trying to try and guide her family away from the slums. Yet, just because shes black, she can’t...
