rage---born certainly in large part by the abuse he experiences from whites---out on Essie Mae and her infant sister Adline. This black-on-black violence is in part a result of white bigotry. In addition, we see that bigotry has been institutionalized in the South with socioeconomic results. Essie Mae's parents work for whites in the fields and are forced to leave their two children alone. her "mother left some beans on the table and told me to eat them when I was hungry. . . . I was some scared. Momma had never left us at home alone before" (14). We note here that even as a little girl in such a frightening position she is only "some scared." This foreshadows the courage and the level-headedness which will mark her character more emphatically as she evolves into a dedicated if realistic activist.
She is intelligent and thoughtful girl and woman, and the reader shares with her the experience of personal and sociopolitical enlightenment step by step. She is curious and insightful with respect to the people and world around her, and she learns quickly to understand and feel compassion for the fallibility of human beings, both black and white. She could easily have allowed hatred and reverse bigotry to rule her life, but her wisdom leads to take a different view entirely. When a sympathetic but ignorant white woman expresses to her the view that blacks and whites shouldn't mix in school, Essie tries to hold her tongue as she has ben taught when in the company of whites, but her urge to tell the truth as she sees it overcomes her, even though it will inevitably offend the white woman to be instructed by Essie:
I think we could learn a lot from each other. I like Wayne [the white woman's son] and his friends. I don't see the difference in me helping Wayne and his friends at home and setting in a classroom with them. . . . Just like all Negroes ain't like me, all white children ain't like Wayne. . . . (153).
Moody's wisdom and com...