Change in Society; Through the Church

Melissa Lara
Prof. Broadous

PAS 113B

Project Text

Ernest Gaines based his story on his memories of childhood. He was born on a Louisiana plantation during the Great Depression. Like the schoolchildren in A Lesson Before Dying, he worked in the fields digging potatoes. His great aunt, Augustine Jefferson, whom he considers one of the most courageous people he ever knew, raised him. This may explain why he gives the hero the name ‘Jefferson’ This may also be a reason why the setting of the novel is in a plantation. As told in the Biography of Ernest Gaines, the only school for African American children in the district was conducted in a single room of the black church. School was open for less than half the year; from the age of nine, Ernest Gaines and the other children were sent to labor alongside their elders in the fields, harvesting vegetables and cotton. Pointe Coupee Parish offered no public high school to its black citizens. For three years, Gaines attended St. Augustine's School, a segregated Catholic school in the parish seat at New Roads, Louisiana. Just like in the novel a church was used as a school and they had very few resources. Throughout the novel, A Lesson Before Dying, the church is used as symbolize of hope that society will change. Aunt Tante Lou is Grant’s aunt. She raised him from a baby because his parents left the South for California. She understands duty to family and community. Miss Emma like Tante Lou embodies self-sacrifice. She has spent her life raising Jefferson as his Godmother. Thus, she feels slighted when the defense attorney labels Jefferson a ‘hog’ because it renders her life’s work meaningless – she didn’t raise a hog. Miss Emma, Tante Lou, and Reverend Ambrose believe that God helps them, they use this belief to comfort themselves in the face of prejudice, hope and injustice. 

The Crown Prosecution Service stated, that prejudice is based upon the victim's disability, race, religion, belief, sexual orientation, and transgender identity. People have to fight against not fitting in with a certain group. Throughout the novel there is a lot of prejudice. In the film, Prejudice: More Than Black and White is shows that we are all prejudice it is part of who we are and how society has taught us. The church has always been a symbol of hope to a majority part of the society. But this does not prejudice. This is where Grant falls. From the start Grant is an angry, bitter, and self-absorbed person. He is angry at a society that, despite his university degree, will only allow him to teach other blacks. He blames his community for burdening him with unreasonable expectations and suffocating him instead of allowing him to leave Louisiana and pursue his own path. Most of all, he loathes himself for playing his role in a segregationist society and his own inability to somehow break free.

In the reverend’s eyes, when Grant unconditionally rejects God and the church, he rejects the possibility that anything can be done to improve society. Reverend Ambrose confronts Grant in Chapter 27, asking him, “You think a man can’t kneel and stand?” The reverend suggests that kneeling before God does not humble people, it gives them dignity. When Grant recognizes that his rejection of the church stems from his own inability to engage actively with his community, he moves closer to a dignified existence. Before this occurs Vivian suggests that Grant start going to church again, if only to keep him from being bored on Sundays, but he insists that he no longer believes. He no longer believes because he sees no point in this because he has done everything he can to succeed as a black man but a white man will see him no different as a uneducated black man. When Grant takes Vivian (his girlfriend) to meet Tante Lou and Miss Emma he announces that he will marry her one-day. In the book A Lesson Before Dying while Grant makes coffee for the women, Tante Lou interrogates Vivian about her religion and her relationship with her parents. Although the old woman seems angry, she eventually judges Vivian to be “a lady of quality” (116) and implores her not to give up on God. Tante Lou never looses the hope or faith of God even though she lightly disapproves of their relationship she remains faithful to her belief that God will always give hope.

There were many injustices done in this novel. Jefferson was accused of a crime he did not commit but since he was African- American he was accused of it. He got the death penalty and was accused by his oppressors not by his peers. The jury was all white including his own lawyer.

The Ghosts of Our Country

Melissa Lara

Prof. Broadous                                 

March 22, 2012

PAS 113B

The Ghosts of Our Country

One in Six Americans lives in poverty. The National Poverty Center stated, “In 2010, 15.1 percent of all persons lived in poverty”. They also stated that in 2010 has been the highest poverty rate since 1993. People who live in poverty are forgotten and often called “throwaway people”. Throwaway people are defined as people who are worthless, homeless, forgotten people who walk in our country with no say to their life but nobody cares. As if nobody cared about the citizens of this country. There are homeless shelters, food pantries, and more resources but this will never get a person out of poverty, this will never help a person be seen in another way. Also, each place that does offer help has a process. Some do some extraordinary jobs at helping “throwaway people” while other organizations do what they can because they all may run on volunteers. These organizations are non-profit organization, which makes it really hard to stay up. “Throwaway people” and their families are living under the shadows, they cannot vote, are unemployed and not heard, and only some organizations try to help.

The ghosts that are in our countries have no word. The affluent and people of the government do not hear them. It is rare that someone proposes something to help the people living in poverty. Since these people are homeless it is like if they didn’t exist because they cannot vote. To be able to vote you have to have an address but that is not their case. Maybe they did vote before they became homeless but every time you move you have to reregister, which makes it so much more difficult. The United States is the only country from Western Democracies who have least voter turnout. Pew Research Center stated that, 22% of the population eligible to vote are not registered and only about 50% vote in the general elections. If these are the statistics then whose voices is being heard. It is a fact that wealthier and more knowledgeable people turnout to vote.

Many people who are living in this crisis use to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. Since they economic downturn people started losing their jobs, homes, then and cars. The Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Labor states that the unemployment rate is 8.3 percent.  This makes up about 12.8 million people who are unemployed currently since February 2012 (Labor). If the government knows this, why do they not true to fix it? They are so busy trying to, make more money they forget about their people. Also, it is obvious that they need people to stay poor so they and get richer. As time goes by there will be no middle class. On CNN a report was done stating that the middleclass has became the underclass. They said that in 1988, the income of an average American taxpayer was $33,400. More than twenty years have passed and not much has changed. According to IRS data the average income was still just $33,000 in 2008.

Organizations that help “throwaway people” really make a difference. A good example of an organization is M.E.N.D., Meet Each Need with Dignity. M.E.N.D.’s mission statement is “With dignity and respect, powered by volunteers, MEND’s mission is to break the bonds of poverty by providing basic human needs and a pathway to self-reliance.” This organization offers food, clothing, dental, medical, chiropractic, and optometry assistance. Everything is free, but you are required to give a ten-dollar donation when needing medical assistance. It is not obligatory but if the person can it is better for M.E.N.D. All the doctors that go there go on their day off from their daily work. Also, only a few people are being paid and the rest are volunteers. M.E.N.D. serves about 30, 000 people in the San Fernando area and has only 3, 000 volunteers. People who go here are no longer ghosts. They are welcome and they feel at home. They do not live under the shadows and can finally smile because they see that it gets better.

Next time you look at someone who looks homeless, living in poverty and struggling do not judge because they could have a degree in anything and just had an unfortunate turn over. This can happen to anyone, no matter if you have a secure job, home and life. By giving a hand to the needy can really make a difference. One smile leads to another and you cannot buy this. These people can no longer be considered ghosts. They are here and if they had a job and were steady they could help bring up the economy and get the country in better shape. This will never happen unless these people get there voice heard by the people who run the government.

Work Cited

"About MEND." MEND. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://www.mendpoverty.org/>.

Censky, Annalyn. "How the Middle Class Became the Underclass." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 16 Feb. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/16/news/economy/middle_class/index.htm>.

"Internal Revenue Service." Internal Revenue Service. 2008. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://www.irs.gov/>.

"The New Unemployment Situation -February 2012." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (9 Mar. 2012). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://www.bls.gov/>.

United States. The National Poverty Center. U.S. Bureau of the Census. National Poverty Center. 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://npc.umich.edu/poverty/>.

"Who Votes, Who Doesn't, and Why Regular Voters, Intermittent Voters, and Those Who Don't." Http://www.people-press.org. 18 Oct. 2006. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.

FiNAL STORY

                                          Love of An Orphan

         Aideen Vladimeer was a young child who grew up in an orphanage because of a terrible incident, which his parents passed.  This all occurred one morning when Sally, Aideen’s mother wanted to go shopping and Jimmy, Aideen’s father was going to go the jewelry store they both got into a car accident. They were in New York for their fourth anniversary vacation. His parent’s family members were not able to gain his custody because of health issues. So, he was held in New York City.

From that moment and on he had to live in an orphanage on Apple Street. This orphanage was known to be the best institution in New York and because his parents were considered of high class he stayed there. This institute was called Elmer Vlackin Orphanage, because when he turned 18 the institution was shut down because of economic problems. This building was made in 1400’s made of brick and formally structured. It had one big window in front with an angel painted on it.

Anyone person who passed by would think this building was a church.  It probably was meant to be used as a church. It looked so formal and beautiful compared to the other buildings on Apple Street.  Aideen liked living there, he had lots of friends and elderly nuns. He never had anyone bully him or make fun of him. He never really thought of his parents because he was really happy and full of love. It was not until he grew up and he kept dreaming of his parents.

These dreams would not come every night but he knew that it was his parents. He could feel his mother’s hand on his shoulders and his father’s look when he disobeyed the nuns. Aideen tried to look further and further into his background but was not able to get any information. His long wait paid off because when he turned the age of eighteen he found out everything he wanted to know. He found out his parents were wealthy and loved him very much. He thought to himself many things. Suddenly a nun walked in and told him, “What’s wrong dear?”

“ Nothing much.” He answered, “ I was thinking about my parents.”

“ Don’t mortify yourself with that, just remember to always have them in your heart and never forget them.” She responded.           

Since, Aideen had turned eighteen it was time for him to leave the orphanage. The nuns prepared him something special. They  had a go away party for him. He was prepared for the so called "real word", so he thought. Then he realized that the nuns had painted a different picture for him. They had said that life was all love, happiness and joy but was it really?  He learned the tough way. He had to degrade himself to live decently. But as the time went by he became a tall, well built, handsome young man. He was coming close to his 24th birthday and did not have a girlfriend, even though he was very attractive, no friends or family who he could spend it with.

 The only thing he had truly accomplished was working at Film Mark Productions  as the co-director of Glasnost Electronics. Aideen has an ex co-worker who he once in a while talks to named Marcuz Escobar. Marcuz use to work in Film Mark Productions but was fired for committing three acts of fraud. Marcuz is a short, chubby man with red-rosy cheeks. He is always playing pranks on people, and mostly lives off of other peoples money. He tries to take Aideen's money in any chance he has. One time the went to go eat at a fancy restaurant, Marcuz invited Aideen. When the tab came, Aideen said, "I'll wait for you in the car."

Aideen replied,"But I thought... okay."

Aideen was use to this treatment, he always let everyone step all over him. But, this was about to change. One day Marcuz did the same thing and Aideen refused to pay it was like something clicked in him and he took a 360 degrees view on everything. He became selfish, ignorant and rude. He was tired of all the maltreatment. Aideen was sure he would only look out for himself now. Until he met Emily Marie. Emily Marie works as a teacher assistant on Bran Street,  three streets down from where the orphanage he grew up in was. She is twenty-six years old and has no children. After meeting with her a couple of times he started to really like her. 

Aideen would by her flowers and have them sent to her work. Emily really did not like him because he was younger than him and her father always said that the man she marries has to be a not only Hispanic like her but have his head set. Unfortunately Aideen is not hispanic, he is French. Emily and Aideen were separated for 3 years because Emily went to go study in California. When she came back she came with her 15 month old son. Aideen was destroyed by this. He had waited three long years for her. He judge her and told her horrible things. All Emily did was cry, cry and cry. Emily told him, " One day you will find out the reason...."

" The reason for what?, the reason you broke my heart and you left with another man." He cried.

" While I sat and cried every night for you." He yelled harder.

You could see the pain that Emily felt when he yelled at her. Tear after tear. Her breathing was so intense, that she could barely speak. Her son looked at her and had no clue of her pain. Emily tried to explain but Aideen did not want to hear. He was so hurt he looked away. Question after question but no answers. It seemed as if Aideen was done yelling at her until he said one last thing that completely broke down Emily.

" I regret ever meeting you, go back to California and do what you know best...sleeping with men." ,He said.

"I can't believe I ever put my eyes on you!" Aideen hollered.

Emily never thought this would happen, she thought to herself ,"What happen to the Aideen I knew?" Emily went to his condo several times to try to explain to him what had happened. Aideen never answered the door. On February 5, he did. Which was a surprise to Emily, her son was now about to turn two in one week. Aideen let her in and told her to take a seat in a rudely manner. So she did. Emily started to explain she had been raped. Aideen was so surprised by her tragic inccident. Her begged her on his knees for forgiveness. 

Emily continued with her story and Aideen become more and more sorry. She said she could not forgive, because she was sure that he would accept her s she was , but he did not. Joseph, Emily's son walked and ran all around the living room while they talked. You could see Joseph's blonde curly hair shine when the reflection of the sun glared at his hair. Suddenly Joseph turned around and asked Emily, " Mommy is this daddy?".

"Uuummm, No Joseph, this is a friend of mine." She explained with tears in her eyes.

Aideen turned and answered," Yes, I am!"

Joseph ran to him with such joy. While he ran one of his blue dinosaur sandals fell off, but he paid no attention. Aideen felt such joy that he could not hold back his tears. Emily ran to him and said, "Thank you Aideen!".

"Emily I always loved you!", He cried to her.

Emily and Aideen married soon after and time went by and Joseph turned five, ten, twenty. Emily and Aideen were getting older. Now they were going to celebrate there fifty year anniversary. They were still the lovely and beautiful couple they were fifty-five years ago just with a few more wrinkles.