Essay Questions

Deconstruct Moody's fear following Emmett Till's murder.

Moody explains, “Before Emmett Till’s murder, I had known the fear of hunger, hell, and the Devil. But now there was a new fear known to me—the fear of being killed just because I was black. This was the worst of my fears. I knew once I got food, the fear of starving to death would leave.” Moody associates blackness with death due to the race of Emmett Till’s death, which is linked to his blackness. Moody develops unconscious dread because she is black and dreads that she would meet a fate comparable to Emmett’s should she confront the system which justifies the murder of black people. Her fear affirms that she has recognized that being black is precarious.

Interpret Moody's hatred for 'whites and blacks.'

Moody writes, “I was fifteen years old when I began to hate people. I hated the white men who murdered Emmett Till and I hated all the other whites who were responsible for the countless mur­ders Mrs. Rice had told me about and those I vaguely re­membered from childhood. But I also hated Negroes. I hated them for not standing up and doing something about the murders. In fact, I think I had a stronger resentment to­ward Negroes for letting the whites kill them than toward the whites.” Moody’s hatred for whites indicates that she does not endorse their racism. However, her hatred towards blacks is ironic for they are victims who have been subdued by racism. Moody deems the black cowards for not shielding themselves because she is too young to recognize that the blacks are marginalized and they lack resources to defend themselves effectively from racism.

Expound Moody’s psychological motivation for ‘leaving home.’

Moody narrates, “I was fifteen years old and leaving home for the first time. I wasn’t even sure I could get a job at that age…I Was choking to death In Centreville. I couldn’t go on working for Mrs. Burke pretending I was dumb and innocent, pretending I didn’t know what was going on in all her guild meetings, or about Jerry’s beating, or about the Taplin burning, arid everything else that was going on. I was Sick of pretending, sick of selling my feelings for a dollar a day.” Moody’s desire is explicit avoidance which she anticipates would help her to avoid the rampant racism and murders of blacks in Centreville. Being away from the environment would help her to mollify her unconscious desire of subverting racism. Staying at home and working at Mrs. Burke's would be equivalent to endorsing their racism. Moreover, she yearns to disremember the memories of blacks' murders which would be possible if she far away from the setting where they were executed.