Coming_of_Age

I have read, understand, and am in compliance with the Academic Honesty policy.   In particular, I have not committed any kind of plagiarism.  There are no un-attributed direct or indirect quotations or paraphrases from printed materials, websites, other students' papers, or any other sources in my essay." Chance Parhm Dr. Allen ENG 203 March 5, 2010 Lost Childhood in Mississippi The selections from Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody depicts what it was like to grow up in the South during the 1940’s through 1960’s as a poor African American female. The selections from her autobiography began by describing her life when she was around seven years old and continued through to her young adult years. This selection describes four periods in her life, childhood, high school, college, and her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. These periods entail how she “came of age” in Mississippi. With each experience Anne Moody grew more knowledgeable and aware of her surroundings and wanted to change it.  By the age of nine Anne received her first job as a housekeeper to help provide for her family, but little did she know this was the start of her entering into adulthood. Many can argue numerous points in her life when she made the transformation from childhood to adulthood. Was it when she was forced to take a job to help support the family because of extreme poverty' Was when she had to take care of her younger siblings' Was it when Anne’s mother met and married Raymond Davis and had more children' Even though Too Sweet, Anne’s mother was married again, she and Anne still had to work just as hard as ever to support their family. Raymond would not work. Anne resented him because of it and this lead to the many conflicts between Anne and Raymond. It was then that they both thought enough is enough. She was tired of living with her mother whom was living through the eyes of her stepfather, Raymond. He had almost complete control over Anne’s mother and it showed when she tried to get in the house after announcing she was leaving. Anne stated, “When I ran for the door, Raymond immediately latched it from the inside. He stood behind it looking at me like he wanted to strike me……... They wouldn’t open it and I ran around to the back door and found it latched too. All the other children came running to the house from down the hill, where they had been playing, as I ran to the front of the house. When I came up on the porch, Mama was opening the door, but Raymond forced her back into the house when he saw me and latched it again.”(436-437). This was evidence that her mother would no longer stand up for her so it sure enough was time for her to move on and grow up. Furthermore, one can make the argument that her coming into adulthood began when she made the decision to leave her mother’s house in search of something better. Even though growing up and moving on might have been just as tough on her mother as it was on her, Moody still felt like her time was done in Centreville. Attending church and school was something that she enjoyed and will miss about living in Centreville. They had been the only places Anne felt that she could be a child. Church and school provided her with the most positive experiences and gave her something to look forward to. However, as Anne grew older and began to develop physically. It was during high school when she started receiving attention from both male and female students, her coach Mr. Hicks, other older men around town and even her own stepfather Raymond. The argument can be made that Anne began to enter adulthood based on her physical appearances. Anne leaves Centreville to live with her father and stepmother. The argument can be made that she continued her journey into adulthood because she began hanging around adults in her stepmother’s family café. There, Anne was exposed to adult activities such as drinking alcohol, smoking, fowl language, and adult music. She looked on as the adults gambled and played cards. The argument can be made that her childhood was lost and the innocence of children’s play was gone forever. In conclusion the autobiography “Coming of Age in Mississippi” poses many arguments to which periods of Anne’s life that lead her to reached adulthood. Looking back in the story Anne did not have a childhood at all. Due to her begin the eldest of nine children she was faced with the struggles, hardship, and entering the workforce early in life. This took away from her childhood and forced her into adulthood at a very young age. With this begin said Anne “came of age” early in life. Works Cited Moody, Anne. “Coming of Age in Mississippi.” Global Crossroads: A World Literature Reader. Eds. Iglesias, Luis A., Mays, Michael, and Pierce, Linda M. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press, 2008. 381- 482. Print.