The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
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The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a 1971 novel by Ernest J. Gaines, written in the style of an interview with a 110-year-old black woman named Jane Pittman. Jane Pittman was born a slave in Louisiana, before the American Civil War, and has witnessed, and participated in, every major aspect of the history of Black America since that time.
The novel was made into a television movie in 1974. It starred Cicely Tyson and she received an Emmy Award for her performance
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
[edit] Introduction
The editor introduces the novel by explaining that after years of asking Miss Jane Pittman to tell her story to him, she finally did in the summer of 1962. He wants to hear her history because he is a teacher and her experiences have not been included in the history textbooks he uses. The teacher records Miss Jane as she speaks. Miss Jane is over a hundred years old, however, and sometimes forgets things. When she does so, her friends fill in the gaps with their memories. Since a group is contributing to her story, the editor feels that the tale belongs to all of them. Sometimes after the story has been gathered, Miss Jane dies, and the editor meets many of the people from her life at her funeral. Upon meeting them, the editor again reflects that Miss Jane's story applies to all of them not just herself.
[edit] Soldiers
It is a hot summer day on the plantation where Miss Jane Pittman lives as a child. Her name during slavery is Ticey. Troops from the retreating Confederate Army, referred to as "Secesh" (for secession), come by. Jane's master hides in the swamp with the silver, and Jane's mistress orders her to give them water. Jane does so and hears one of the soldiers grumpily suggesting that they should just give up and free the slaves. The Confederate soldiers soon ride off when they hear that the Yankees are coming. When the Yankee soldiers arrive, the mistress tells Ticey to give them water too. One soldier, Corporal Brown, tells Jane that she will be free soon, and she can come see him in Ohio. When he hears that her name is Ticey, he says that she needs a non-slave name and offers her the name of his daughter, Jane Brown. After the soldiers leave, Jane insists that her name is now Miss Jane Brown and refuses to answer when her mistress calls her Ticey. Once the Master returns from the field, they beat Jane until she bleeds, but she insists that her name is Jane Brown. The mistress is so angry that she sends her to work in the fields instead of in the house as she had previously done.
[edit] Freedom
Jane and the other slaves hear the bell ringing, which means that they should stop working in the field. After some initial confusion, they all stop and approach the house. Their master is standing there with a piece of paper in his hand. He tells them that they all are now free. The slaves cheer and start singing. After a moment though, they ask the master what they are supposed to do. He tells them that they can stay, and he will pay them, or else they can leave. One of the older slaves, Uncle Isom, takes the ex-slaves back to the quarters where he discusses the issue with everyone. Jane stubbornly insists on leaving and going north to Ohio. Other slaves fear the outside world and decide to stay. Jane has no reason to stay, as she never knew her father and her mother was killed when she was young. The mistress and master offer everyone potatoes and apples before they leave. Jane grabs some food, her other dress, and assembles with the people who are leaving.
[edit] Heading North
The ex-slaves have no idea where to go, where the north is, or what freedom means. As they walk off the plantation, they break some of the cotton out of spite and grab some corn for food. When they must walk through the more difficult swamp, a woman named Big Laura starts leading the group. Big Laura is as strong as any man and very brave. They walk until night when they camp. Once stopped, everyone starts renaming themselves, becoming Abe Washington, Job Lincoln, and Ace Freeman. One slow-witted man decides to call himself Brown, but Jane protests because it is her name and starts hitting him with a stick. As he fights back, the slow wit gets a strange look in his eye, and when he grabs Jane, he does so in a sexual way. Big Laura appears and starts hitting the slow wit with a stick, telling him go back to the plantation if wants to sexually force young girls. She hits him until he cries. As it gets darker, the group finds the north star in the sky. They walk again, and then everyone sleeps under bushes for the night.
[edit] Massacre
Just after everyone wakes, someone screams "Patrollers" and everyone hides under bushes, Jane hiding with Big Laura's small son, Ned. Patrollers are poor white trash who used to find runaway slaves, and who later will become the Ku Klux Klan. They ride in on horses and see the slow wit, who did not hide because he did not know what was happening. They beat him to death. Jane hears cries and screams from other beatings but stays hidden with Ned. They hide until the cries stop and all the Patrollers leave. When they get up, Jane sees that everyone she is with has been killed, including Big Laura and her baby girl. Big Laura apparently managed to kill two Patrollers before she died, as Jane sees one body and another set of bloody clothes. Since everyone is dead, Jane takes their leftover food. She gives Ned the flint that Big Laura kept to light the fire. Ned and Jane then leave walking all day and well into the night. They stop by a river that they cannot cross. As Ned sleeps, Jane thinks about everyone's death and where she will go.
[edit] Heading South
The next morning, Jane and Ned walk along the river to find a place where they can pass. They stop when they hear voices, but realizing that they are black voices, they approach. When the blacks see them, everyone freezes. But when Jane asks if they are in Ohio, they all burst out laughing. The blacks are with a white woman who fled her plantation in Louisiana during the war to hide in Texas. She is now returning to see about her land. The white woman tells Jane to go back to her plantation. Jane describes how her master beat her mother to death. The white woman gives Jane and Ned some meat and hot food and invites them to return with her to her plantation, because she never beat her slaves. Jane refuses to listen and explains that she is going to find the Yankee soldier Mr. Brown in Ohio. The white woman explains that Jane will need to take a ferry to cross the river, which requires money, and that she should really just stay with them. Jane is obstinate and refuses. As she leaves with Ned, she sees that the white woman is crying.
[edit] Shelter for a Night
Jane and Ned soon find the ferry on the river and try to get on it. The captain forces them off since they have no money, so Jane and Ned just sit by it all day long. After many hours, a white man with a horse approaches and sees them. When they tell him that they want to cross, he takes them across. Jane explains about leaving her plantation and desire to get to Ohio. The white man is an investigator for the Freedom Bureau and he comes from New York. He tells Jane that Louisiana will soon be as free as Ohio, so she might as well stay. He knows where they can spend the night anyhow and takes them to a big house. A black woman meets them at the door and shows Jane and Ned a boys and girls dormitory. The woman feeds them, forces them to bathe, and puts them to sleep. Jane tells Ned before they lie down that they are going to leave tomorrow.
[edit] All Kinds of People
A white man enters before they sleep and makes everyone get on their knees to pray. As Jane tries to sleep, she hears voices from the boys' dormitory and rushes over. A boy tried to grab the flint Ned has carried around, but Ned fought back and now the other boy had a knot on his forehead. The white man returns and wants to take Ned's flint away, but Jane argues with him so he leaves it. He orders them all back to bed. The next morning they dress, wash, and eat. When Jane learns that they have to learn their ABCs before playing, she decides that she is leaving. She grabs Ned and their bundles. When the white man asks her where she is going, she says Ohio. The man, the black woman, and the other children all watch them walk away. As Jane and Ned walk, they soon come upon a group of Yankee soldiers. Jane sees two black soldiers and asks about Mr. Brown. There is a Brown at the camp, so Jane forces her way over to his tent and eventually goes inside. This Brown however, is Colonel Brown and not the one she met. He asks her a few questions, but she leaves quickly with Ned. Ned and she continue to walk and later that day Jane asks a poor white woman for some water. The woman says miserable things about "niggers" and the fact that the Yankees ruined her house, but pours water into their hands anyhow. Jane and Ned walk East until sundown, then sleep.
