While black people struggle, the media constantly portrays them as animalistic brutes. In turn, it reinforces the stereotype in the minds of white people, which in turn feeds their fear and contempt of black people, particularly black men. Fear is a powerful motivator and white people justify segregation as the only way to protect white society from the “animalistic brutes.” Bigger is well aware of the instant judgments white people make when they see a black man. For example, when Bigger goes to the Dalton’s house, he thinks, “Suppose a police officer saw him wandering in a white neighborhood like this? It would be thought that he was trying to rob or rape somebody,” (44).
In, the authors, Charlotte Gilman and William Faulkner, respectively, have placed both figurative and literal elements of confinement upon the characters. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the wife of a reputable doctor is placed within a mansion and is isolated from work and social contact. This was done in hopes of curing her mental illness. Her husband, John, forced her to abide to his treatment even though she believed that the treatment was causing her to become worse than she was before. In “A Rose for Emily”, Emily’s lover, Homer, has also confined her to her house but does so in a different way.
It was the fact that the whites believed that they had this power over the African Americans and that it was there right in taking it and abusing their power. Richard gets a job at an optical shop in Jackson and right away two of his white co-workers yell crude words and try in any way to intimidate him. At one point they almost threaten to kill him and frightens Richard to quit the job knowing that he no longer would be safe there. Mr. Crane, Richard’s boss, is a kind man who is from the North and sympathizes Wright. He asks Richard what the co-workers had said and that they would be punished but Richard’s fear is too great and just accepts his pay and leaves.
In the times John Steinbeck lived in women were not held in high regard but they were just present to serve men. However, they still tried to yearn for a better future by exploiting men. The character Curley's wife in the novel is a victim of society and her dream. She is married to Curley who neglects her and so because of her loneliness she is always seeking attention. She wears too much makeup and dresses like a "whore"
Hawthorne uses characterization to victimize the minister and point out the flaws of the wife. He shows us that, “The color rose in her cheeks as she imitated the nature of the rumors that were already abroad in the village.” The color in her cheeks shows that she is ashamed of her lover for making them the talk of the town by being so honest about his sin. This shame plays on the puritan value of conformity. This theme is again shown when she is trying to understand why her husband is dealing with his sin in such an abstract way; she decides that is must be the cause of “mental disease”. We are shown countless times that he is the same person that was once admired in the village; it is only the people’s perception of him through the veil that has changed.
Jane Eyer opens with Jane being wrapped I her own thoughts. We discover that she is living in a house where she is not welcomed. The other kids Eliza, John, and Georgina are kept at a distance by their abrasive mother Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed seems to be threatened by Janes level of maturity. It’s almost like she finds it disrespectful.
Then Steinbeck opened the character up by talking him to Lenny. Crooks felt as if he could be totally open with Lenny because Lenny couldn’t properly follow track of the conversation and wouldn’t tell anyone else what he has said. This showed the readers the suffering that black people suffered. For example Crooks says to Lenny “Spose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black.” This shows the social outcast that black people were. By including this character, John Steinbeck was protesting that treating black people as social outcasts and as second class was not fair.
Cousin Francis yelled, “He`s nothing` but a nigger-lover!” (Lee pg83). Just because Atticus was doing the right and noble thing, Cousin Francis thought that he loved black people but he did not know Tom. Although, Jem stated that, “Atticus says cheatin` a coloured man is ten times worse than cheatin` a white man.” (Lee pg201) It is worse because it is like killing a mockingbird, which is a sin, coloured men do not really bother anybody. And then Atticus explained that, “...You’ll see white men cheat black men everyday of your life, ...whenever a white man does that to a black man, ... that white man is trash.” (Lee pg220). He explained that white men always win and cheat, so the white men are the victors but the white man is always a bad man.
This shows the mans inhumanity to man because it shows how inferior blacks; or natives; are to the whites. That simply because of their skin color and culture they are not superior to the whites which brings up the “civilization” and “enlightening” of the natives. “The shed was already a heap of embers glowing fiercely. A nigger was being beaten near by. They said he has caused the fire in some way; be that as it may, he was screeching most horribly.
Sophocles characterizes Creon as a sexist ruler who has little value for women, which consequently leads to his downfall. This ultimately reveals that possessing discriminatory traits can result in one’s demise. Sophocles characterizes Creon as a sexist man that consequently endures a harsh downfall when he displays his arrogant attitude about himself being king and his belittling attitude towards women. During his argument with Antigone, he says that because he is a man, he will never submit to a woman. Creon quotes, “Then get you down thither, and love, if you must love, the dead!