The Opposing Characters Of Virgil Gillespie †Literature Essay

The Opposing Characters Of Virgil Gillespie – Literature Essay Free Online Research Papers The Opposing Characters Of Virgil Gillespie Literature Essay John Ball’s In The Heat Of The Night introduces us to the two characters, Virgil Tibbs and Bill Gillespie. In the novel they are shown as two completely opposite characters whose personalities differ. The apparent theme in the novel is racism and how people would deal with it in the 1960s. Some terms and methods talked about in the book are quite different from those used today. Although there are the occasional people who one would disagree with, this book seems quite appropriate for today. In general, teenagers find themselves having to cope with racism and prejudice in our society. The novel, In The Heat Of The Night, besides dealing with the issue of prejudice, focuses on the major differences that exist between the two main characters. In the beginning of In The Heat Of The Night, we are introduced to Virgil Tibbs. Virgil is shown as a police officer that is wealthy, proper and an intelligent young black man. He is first brought into the story as a suspect for the murder of Enrico Mantoli, in the city of Wells. Soon after, he is introduced as a police officer from California, and slightly embarrasses Gillespie and Wood with their false accusations. Tibbs is a very well-educated man who is patient with others and rarely talks back to those addressing him in a rude manner. Just after Gillespie had been awfully rude and had a little temper tantrum, Tibbs politely replies â€Å"Good morning, Chief Gillespie† (45), right before he walks out of Gillespie’s office. Then when he is talking to Gillespie once more, he kindly says â€Å"After you sir† (25), as Gillespie walks through the doorway in front of him. Even though there is very little respect shown towards Tibbs despite all his help, he still continues to act in a civilized and well-behaved manor towards his peers. On the other hand, the character Bill Gillespie is quite different. He is an older, narrow-minded and racist chief of police from the city of Wells. Gillespie thinks that Tibbs is a nuisance and a distraction to the city. He has never met someone who is better then he is at his own job, especially a black man. â€Å"Nobody could tell him (Gillespie) that a coloured man could do anything he couldn’t do† (27). The problem is that not only is Tibbs more competent then Gillespie, but he is better educated. Also, his initial reaction to having Tibbs work on the case with their police force is very negative. He expresses these feelings quite often in the book. â€Å"Who in hell asked you to open your big black mouth† (45), Gillespie demanded. More over, racial comments and remarks such as this are found throughout the novel and are often expressed by the characters. In addition, there are numerous differences that clearly distinguish the main characters from each other. For example Gillespie is known as the uneducated, big-headed and racist character, â€Å"At that precise moment Bill did not want to see the Negro detective-as a matter of fact he did not want to see him at anytime† (74). On the other hand, Tibbs is the educated, forgiving and decent one. However, both these characters are achievers and are concerned about high status. Although tension exists between the two of them, they still have some respect for one another, as shown in the following, â€Å"Thank you, sir,† Tibbs said, â€Å"Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?† (104). Another example is when Gillespie thought, â€Å"And while he did not like to admit it to himself, he knew that Tibbs had something on the ball.† (76) In conclusion, the novel deals very effectively with the issue of prejudice. Moreover, the differences that exist between the two main characters are expressed very clearly and distinctively. Despite the fact that these two characters have ill feelings towards one another, they manage to gain respect for each other in the end. Research Papers on The Opposing Characters Of Virgil Honest Iagos Truth through DeceptionWhere Wild and West MeetThe Fifth HorsemanBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm X19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoCapital PunishmentThe Hockey Game

Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights Leader

Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights Leader Known for her civil rights activism, Fannie Lou Hamer was called the spirit of the civil rights movement. Born a sharecropper, she worked from the age of six as a timekeeper on a cotton plantation. Later, she became involved in the Black Freedom Struggle and eventually moved on to become a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).   Dates:  October 6, 1917 - March 14, 1977Also known as:  Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer About Fannie Lou Hamer Fannie Lou Hamer, born in Mississippi, was working in the fields when she was six and was only educated through the sixth grade. She married in 1942 and adopted two children. She went to work on the plantation where her husband drove a tractor, first as a field worker and then as the plantations timekeeper. She also attended meetings of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, where speakers addressed self-help, civil rights, and voting rights. Field Secretary With the SNCC In 1962, Fannie Lou Hamer volunteered to work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) registering black voters in the South. She and the rest of her family lost their jobs for her involvement, and SNCC hired her as a field secretary. She was able to register to vote for the first time in her life in 1963 and then taught others what theyd need to know to pass the then-required literacy test. In her organizing work, she often led the activists in singing Christian hymns about freedom: This Little Light of Mine and others. She helped organize the 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi, a campaign sponsored by SNCC, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the NAACP. In 1963, after being charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to go along with a restaurants whites only policy, Hamer was beaten so badly in jail, and refused medical treatment, that she was permanently disabled. Founding Member and VP of the MFDP Because African Americans were excluded from the Mississippi Democratic Party, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) was formed, with Fannie Lou Hamer as a founding member and vice president. The MFDP sent an alternate delegation to the 1964 Democratic National Convention, with 64 black and 4 white delegates. Fannie Lou Hamer testified to the conventions Credentials Committee about violence and discrimination faced by black voters trying to register to vote, and her testimony was televised nationally. The MFDP refused a compromise offered to seat two of their delegates and returned to further political organizing in Mississippi, and in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. Delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1972 From 1968 to 1971, Fannie Lou Hamer was a member of the Democratic National Committee for Mississippi. Her 1970 lawsuit, Hamer v. Sunflower County, demanded school desegregation. She ran unsuccessfully for the Mississippi state Senate in 1971, and successfully for delegate to the Democratic National Convention of 1972. Other Accomplishments She also lectured extensively, and was known for a signature line she often used, Im sick and tired of being sick and tired. She was known as a powerful speaker, and her singing voice lent another power to civil rights meetings. Fannie Lou Hamer brought a Head Start program to her local community, to form a local Pig Bank cooperative (1968) with the help of the National Council of Negro Women, and later to found the Freedom Farm Cooperative (1969). She helped found the National Womens Political Caucus in 1971, speaking for the inclusion of racial issues in the feminist agenda. In 1972 the Mississippi House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring her national and state activism, passing 116 to 0. Suffering from breast cancer, diabetes, and heart problems, Fannie Lou Hamer died in Mississippi in 1977. She had published To Praise Our Bridges: An Autobiography in 1967. June Jordan published a biography of Fannie Lou Hamer in 1972, and Kay Mills published This Little Light of Mine: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer in 1993. Background, Family Father: Jim TownsendMother: Ella Townsendyoungest of 20 childrenborn in Montgomery County, Mississippi; family moved when she was two to Sunflower County, Mississippi Education Hamer attended the segregated school system in Mississippi, with a short school year to accommodate fieldwork as a child of a sharecropping family. She dropped out by 6th grade.   Marriage, Children Husband: Perry Pap Hamer (married 1942; tractor driver)Children (adopted): Dorothy Jean, Vergie Ree Religion Baptist Organizations Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), National Womens Political Caucus (NWPC), others