Trouble in Mind

During the play, a block man named Job is lynched for voting, which the audience finds out later that he never did. This boy is portrayed as being very sweet and lovable the play. By having such a man viciously lynched by a white mob in front a white audience, Manners wants to making the subtle point that violence is wrong. This occurred at time when violence was erupting on the streets against. Manners is trying to challenge the status quo, but not in way that will be obvious. He knows that whites are convinced of their superiority. Americans are not ready to see the truth that they have no blacks deserve equal treatment to whites and should be treated with respect. As such, a direct condemnation of white’s actions against blacks would only offend the white audience. Despite his good intentions however, there is skepticism from his black cast from the start, particularly. Though Manners is on their side from the start, Wiletta won’t believe in his idea no matter what he says. She can’t bring herself to play the part of a mother whom she sees as sending her own son to his death. Since she doesn’t believe in the role, playing that role would be violation of her integrity. In the end both Wiletta and Manners get into an argument which ends in Manners storms out of the theatre in fury. The play shows us a basic truth of human nature. When someone is predisposed to believe that another doesn’t have their best interests in mind, it is very hard for the other to gain their trust, and build a coordinated effort. By the 1950s, blacks had been oppressed so long by whites, that it had become part of American culture. Since childhood, all of these black actors had experienced this mistreatment. If a white director starts telling these black actors that he wants to help blacks by putting on this play, they question whether his intentions were genuine since they had seen so much mistreatment brought by other whites that they met before him. Thus gaining the support of the actors will present a tremendous challenge to Manners.Subject: