Ignorance vs. Knowledge
"She didn't mention anything about you being white." Zach
"Maybe she didn't notice." Lily
The Civil Rights Act and race relations was at its boiling point in South Carolina, 1964. Martin Luther King was strongly advocating the rights of freedom and equality, which eternally changed society. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character." -Martin Luther King Jr. The novel paints an accurate perception on how America was still struggling to accept equality and steer away from racism. T-Ray had taken in Rosaleen, an African-American woman, as a housekeeper but also as a mother figure for Lily , Lily had constantly had the knowledge that African-Americans were uneducated, but as the novel progresses Lily comes to term that race has no bar to intelligence and creativity. Rosaleen begins on her own journey to go vote when she comes across the most racist man in town, who she begins to pick a fight with. As he beats her for spitting on his shoe, Rosaleen ends up in jail. This is ultimately an eye-opener for Lily as she begins to realize the prejudice ways of people. Lily had been prejudice also, by determining what African-American individuals can or cannot do, but her interactions with the Boatwright sisters allows her to see the resemblance of white and blacks. Lily also faces her own discrimination as June discriminates against her skin colour, something she has never experienced before. Ignorance vs. Knowledge shows itself various times throughout the novel, the way Lily was taught about African-American's was her ignorance, until coming across strong, empowered individuals, creating her own knowledge of things.
"Maybe she didn't notice." Lily
The Civil Rights Act and race relations was at its boiling point in South Carolina, 1964. Martin Luther King was strongly advocating the rights of freedom and equality, which eternally changed society. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character." -Martin Luther King Jr. The novel paints an accurate perception on how America was still struggling to accept equality and steer away from racism. T-Ray had taken in Rosaleen, an African-American woman, as a housekeeper but also as a mother figure for Lily , Lily had constantly had the knowledge that African-Americans were uneducated, but as the novel progresses Lily comes to term that race has no bar to intelligence and creativity. Rosaleen begins on her own journey to go vote when she comes across the most racist man in town, who she begins to pick a fight with. As he beats her for spitting on his shoe, Rosaleen ends up in jail. This is ultimately an eye-opener for Lily as she begins to realize the prejudice ways of people. Lily had been prejudice also, by determining what African-American individuals can or cannot do, but her interactions with the Boatwright sisters allows her to see the resemblance of white and blacks. Lily also faces her own discrimination as June discriminates against her skin colour, something she has never experienced before. Ignorance vs. Knowledge shows itself various times throughout the novel, the way Lily was taught about African-American's was her ignorance, until coming across strong, empowered individuals, creating her own knowledge of things.