Essay Questions

Highlight the character of Patricia Stephens Due as brought out in the narrative.

Patricia Stephens Due is a determined individual. As apart of her desire to make the world a better place for her daughter as well as other people of color, she becomes a political activist in order to fight for the rights of the black community. In this way, the character can also be argued as hardworking and ambitious. Additionally, Patricia exhibits a great deal of courage during her life as she organizes protests against racial segregation. Additionally, she is quite protective of her daughter. She ensures that her daughter gets a good life in which she is not majorly impacted by the racial situation.

How does Patricia’s life shape that of her daughter?

Patricia Stephens Due is an activist who is at the frontline of the fight against racial prejudices during her time in which the black community is under threat following rampant racism. Having been born into a family in which activism is central, Tananarive’s future is shaped in such a way that it follows the line of that of her parents. While her mother is an activist, she is married to a civil rights lawyer. All of these things come together to influence their daughter's views and perceptions as black people growing up in the United States. She also joins activist groups like her mother and notices how things had not changed for the better in comparison to the time of her parents. In this way, Patricia as well as her husband’s lives play a major role in shaping Tananarive‘s life.

How are identity conflicts brought out in this work?

Tananarive to some extent enjoys the protection and the rights that her parents actively fight for. As a child, she grows up in suburbs that are largely occupied by whites. As she grows into teenagehood, she begins feeling out of place as she is not readily accepted by her black counterparts. Contrastingly, she does not feel welcome among the whites as she feels different from them. At this point, Tananarive’s identity crisis sets off. In high school, she joins an activist group in which she still feels out of place seeing as most of the friends she has are white and not interested in politics. Tananarive becomes, in a way, an emblem of an identity crisis.