In my Freshmen Honors English I class we are studying the novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines. We are also talking about stereotypes, and how just because a person is a member of a particular group everyone makes an automatic assumption about them, whether good or bad. In the novel there are many different evidences of stereotypes, and stereotypes being proven wrong. One major stereotype portrayed in the novel is all white people from the South are rednecks that hate black people and think they are as low as dirt. One example of this stereotype being proven wrong is multiple times Jane, the main character in the novel, is on her way to Ohio to be free, and along the way she is helped by many white southerners in Louisiana, Luzana as Jane calls it. One white southerner invited Jane and the little boy she's taking with her to Ohio, Ned, into his house and gave them food and a place to sleep. His name was Job and he was very kind to Jane and Ned. Also, a man took the kids in and showed them how they would be able to get to Ohio, and what routes they should take. These are just some of the many examples in this book showing how not all white southerners hated black ex-slaves as much as they are stereotyped to have.
