In Faulkner's "That Evening Sun" and Ross's "A Field of Wheat", we see both female protagonists victimized by their environment. In "That Evening Sun", we see Nancy as a victim of the racially discriminatory environment of the South in the early 1900's. In A "Field of Wheat", Martha falls victim to her natural environment and the wrath that nature plays in her life and the life of her family. In each story, the reader feels a sense of despair in both women. I will attempt to show that the environment in which they live contributes to their despair.

Living in the South during the early 1900's was difficult for Nancy. During this era, racial discrimination against blacks was at a peak and the separation of white and black communities was pronounced. Blacks were treated as property, not citizens--they did not have rights. Accordingly, most white people had the...