Mrs. Brown
AP Literature and Comprehension
14 October 2011
Literary Analysis of The Child by Tiger The setting in The Child by Tiger illustrates the moral and mental challenges that Dick goes through. Ashville, North Carolina around 1912 was heavily racist based, but Dick was actually treated a little better until he went on a killing spree. Dick had most people's trust and even played with white kids while he was young. Since this story is set post civil war era and pre Civil Rights Movement there were a lot of restrictions and wrong doings that happened to African Americans. Considering what town it is set in the idea of a lynch mob is not farfetched and law enforcement essentially encouraged them. Dick's thoughts while during this time of racism is all he ever knew. His values were set around racism and he was always so used to being treated like a possession. Dick probably did not think that his own life meant that much, so dying after killing a conglomerate of people who mistreated him seemed to be the best idea for Dick at the time. Dick ended up dying for something that he believed in and just that is something that we all should learn. Standing up for your personal beliefs is good, but if someone threatened your life because of them would you continue to stand? We all are affected by the setting of our environment and Dick was magnificently affected just from the time and place where he resolved his life.
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