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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Coming of Age in Mississippi, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Intersection of Racism and Poverty
Loss of Innocence
The Importance of Community
Gender and Racism
Religion and Hypocrisy
Summary
Analysis
The memoir’s narrator, Essie Mae (Anne), grows up on Mr. Carter’s plantation. She lives with her parents (Mama and Daddy), who are sharecroppers on the plantation, and her baby sister, Adline. She describes life on the plantation for her family and the other Black people, who all live in two-room shacks and farm the plantation’s land. As both of Essie Mae’s parents work in the field all day every day (except Sunday), she and Adline are left in the care of her abusive eight-year-old uncle, George Lee.
In the opening of the memoir, Anne Moody introduces the reader to her family’s life of poverty on the plantation. This lifestyle for Black families in the South in the mid-20th century is typical and is the only life that Essie Mae, who is a very young child, knows. As sharecroppers, Essie Mae’s parents are required to work excessively for barely enough money to feed their family, leaving the children basically unattended.
Themes
George Lee takes out his anger at having to watch the children on Essie Mae, beating her. She describes a particular incident in which George Lee throws her off the porch and lies to Mama and Daddy about it. The next day, George Lee lights the house on fire with Essie Mae and Adline on the porch. When the adults finish their work for the day and see the fire, they all help put it out. George Lee blames the fire on Essie Mae, and Daddy beats her as punishment for the first time. Mama, however, believes Essie Mae that George Lee started the fire and convinces Daddy of this. From then on, Mama’s 12-year-old brother Ed comes to watch the children.
Though there is no excuse for abuse, the unfairness of a child having to spend his days watching other young children is the cause of George Lee’s anger and mistreatment of Essie Mae and Adline. When Daddy beats Essie Mae for the first time, it is a catalyst of her loss of innocence, experiencing the unfair violence of life. Ed starting to watch the children is the first of many changes of childcare circumstances in the memoir.
Themes
A few days after the house fire, Daddy becomes irritable and easily angered. He complains about the harvest, snaps at Mama, and yells at Essie Mae. When Daddy’s best friend, Bush, is killed in a wagon accident, Daddy sinks even deeper into despair. The only time he shows happiness is when he plays dice and when he spends his weekends away from the house gambling. However, the women on the plantation tell Mama that Daddy has actually been spending his weekends with Florence, a light-skinned biracial woman on the plantation who Essie Mae notices inspires envy in the other woman.
Daddy’s inability to cope with the frustrating and, in the case of Bush’s death, violent circumstances of the plantation showcases the damage that living in poverty can have on one’s psyche. His relationship with Florence, a light-skinned woman, also demonstrates the internal racialized dynamics within the Black community that will continue to be present throughout the memoir.
Themes
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Essie Mae notices Mama gaining weight and crying every weekend while Daddy is away with Florence. However, when Mama gives birth to a little boy named Junior (after his father), Essie Mae understands why she has gained weight. Though Essie Mae expects Daddy to be more present after the birth of Junior, instead the family packs up into a wagon and travels to Aunt Cindy’s house. When they arrive at their new home, Daddy leaves.
For the first time in the memoir, Essie Mae notices her mother suffering due to her lack of control over her family life and stress about supporting her children. Still a very young child, Essie Mae also lacks control in the situation and does not know the reasoning behind her family’s split.
Themes
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Mama, Essie Mae, Adline, and Junior begin their life at Aunt Cindy’s house. The house is already crowded with Aunt Cindy’s husband and six kids, who barely have enough to eat themselves, and Essie Mae, her siblings, and Mama all share a single bed. Mama gets a job at Mrs. Cook’s house. After two weeks, Mama gets a better paying job at a café. Mama begins renting a house from Mrs. Cook on the condition that she works at Mrs. Cook’s house on her days off from the café. When the family is short on food, Mama steals corn from Mrs. Cook’s fields and makes it look like the crows did it.
As Mama and her children experience challenging living conditions in Aunt Cindy’s house, the reader sees that poverty is common in their surrounding community. Mama working on her days off to secure housing and stealing Mrs. Cook’s corn highlights her determination to support her family as a single mother.
Themes
Essie Mae turns five and begins school, walking four miles each day to attend classes. Reverend Cason, Essie Mae’s teacher, frequently beats the students. Essie Mae discovers that she can hide in the bathroom unnoticed and begins spending hours a day there. However, when the rest of the students catch on to this strategy, Reverend Cason finds out and doesn’t allow the students to leave class anymore.
Essie Mae’s difficult walk to school and the rule of an abusive teacher both show the harsh reality of her elementary education experience. Though she tries to exercise control over her days by spending hours in her bathroom, the fact that this privilege is taken away when Reverend Cason discovers her strategy exemplifies how difficult it is for Essie Mae to find solace in her daily life.
Themes
While Mama is at work and Essie Mae is at school, Adline and Junior spend the day with Grandfather Moody, Daddy’s father. Though he is a sickly man, Grandfather Moody is kind and helps Mama financially, and he’s disappointed in his son for mistreating and neglecting his children.
Grandfather Moody’s kindness and generosity despite his own poor health, lack of wealth, and lack of blood relation to Mama underscores the complex relationships between the family. Grandfather Moody’s presence also foreshadows the generational differences and relations that Essie Mae will observe throughout the memoir.
Themes
When Grandfather Moody becomes sicker, Mama brings Essie Mae to say goodbye (though Essie Mae does not understand what she means). At Grandfather Moody’s house, Essie Mae and Mama see Daddy. Essie Mae recalls the first time she saw Daddy since he left, on Easter Sunday. He brought them gifts, which Mama threw back in his face. Outside Grandfather Moody’s house, Daddy tries to give some money to Essie Mae. Mama throws the money back at him and he walks away. Mama and Essie Mae leave before Essie Mae can say goodbye to Grandfather Moody. That night, Essie Mae is angry with her mother for throwing away the money.
When Essie Mae and Mama see Daddy during their final visit to Grandfather Moody, the tensions between the family come to a head. Mama’s refusal to accept Daddy’s help highlights her commitment to her independence, but it also shows her strong sense of pride. Though Mama (justifiably) does not wish to be involved with Daddy, the money could at least briefly make a difference in the children’s lives and health. Essie Mae is too young to understand Mama’s reasoning for refusing Daddy’s help, and her anger at Mama is one of many disagreements between mother and daughter throughout the memoir.
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