The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman“Grand, robust, a rich and big novel.”—Alice Walker, The New York Times Book Review “In [Jane Pittman], Ernest Gaines has created a legendary figure. . . . Gaines’s novel brings to mind other great works: The Odyssey, for the way his heroine’s travels manage to summarize the American history of her race, and Huckleberry Finn, for the clarity of [Pittman’s] voice, for her rare capacity to sort through the mess of years and things to find the one true story of it all.”—Newsweek Miss Jane Pittman. She is one of the most unforgettable heroines in American fiction, a woman whose life has come to symbolize the struggle for freedom, dignity, and justice. Ernest J. Gaines’s now-classic novel—written as an autobiography—spans one hundred years of Miss Jane’s remarkable life, from her childhood as a slave on a Louisiana plantation to the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. It is a story of courage and survival, history, bigotry, and hope—as seen through the eyes of a woman who lived through it all. A historical tour de force, a triumph of fiction, Miss Jane’s eloquent narrative brings to life an important story of race in America—and stands as a landmark work for our time. |
Contents
Section 1 | 3 |
Section 2 | 26 |
Section 3 | 49 |
Section 4 | 58 |
Section 5 | 67 |
Section 6 | 75 |
Section 7 | 80 |
Section 8 | 122 |
Section 10 | 135 |
Section 11 | 140 |
Section 12 | 166 |
Section 13 | 176 |
Section 14 | 184 |
Section 15 | 211 |
Section 16 | 260 |
Section 9 | 126 |
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Common terms and phrases
ain't Albert already asked Bayonne beat better Brown called church Cluveau Colonel colored coming couldn't cross crying don't door everything eyes face feel felt field front gallery girl give go back go'n gone hand happened head hear heard hold horse Jimmy Joe Pittman Jules keep killed knocked leave Lena listening live looked Lord mama Mary Master mind Miss Amma Dean Miss Jane move never nigger night Ohio pick poor quarters quiet rest ride river road Robert round Samson scared seen side sitting standing started stay stood stop sure talk Tee Bob tell That's thing thought Timmy told took tree tried trying turned waiting walking wasn't y'all Yankees yard young