Accepted Behavior of Blacks

It is made very clear in this novel that in this time period, probably the early 1920’s, there were ways in which it was accepted for blacks to act when dealing with white people. Blacks who did not follow these rules of accepted behavior could be punished or even killed. Although some of the white people in the novel, and even some of the black people, don’t seem to understand why some blacks have so much trouble with staying in the lines of this accepted behavior, it is evident these rules were an attempt to keep blacks believing they were inferior to whites.

Some of the blacks characters in the novel do not have trouble acting the way they should around white people. Sam is one of the best examples of a black man who follows the rules because he knows this...