Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittmann?

Plot Overview

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman begins with a note from the editor, who is a local schoolteacher near the plantation where Jane Pittman lives. He has long been trying to hear her story, and, beginning in the summer of 1962, she finally tells it to him. When her memory lapses, her acquaintances help fill in the spaces. The recorded tale, with editing, then becomes The Autobiography of Miss Jane.

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Character List

Miss Jane Pittman - The protagonist of the novel. She is a spunky woman who has always fought her way through the world and stood up for herself. She represents courage, fortitude, and determination. From the very beginning of the novel to the very end, Jane attempts to make herself as emotionally and physically free as possible. She is a physically strong woman who becomes a community leader because of her strength, insight, and character.

Ned Douglass - Jane Pittman's adopted son. Ned represents insight, strength, and youth. He is a bright young man who desires change in the society and boldly makes an effort to help his people by building a school. He is well aware that he might be killed for his actions, as he is, but he insists on doing it anyhow. His bravery makes him a savior within his community.

Joe Pittman - Jane's husband. Joe is kind, likable, and tough. His toughness gave him the courage to leave Colonel Dye's plantation after finding another job. Joe's desire to break horses shows his forceful personality and yearning for true manhood. Joe's excellence at his work indicates his status as a truly strong man. Unfortunately, Joe's desire to constantly demonstrate his manhood will lead to his death as he refuses to retire even though he is aging. Joe's death when trying to capture the black stallion can be seen as his final attempt to claim the masculinity that whites had long denied him.

Robert Samson - The Master of the Samson Plantation and the father of Tee Bob. Robert Samson represents the old southern social order. He governs his plantation almost as men did during slavery. He seduces a black woman and fathers a child, Timmy, but he refuses to accept this son as his own because he is black. Timmy lives on the plantation and resembles him more than Samson's white son, but for Samson the color barrier between them is larger than their blood connection. Samson's inability to see beyond the old southern order leads to his rejection of Timmy and the death of his other son, Tee Bob. Because of his archaic beliefs, his legacy is ruined.

Miss Amma Dean Samson - The wife and mistress of the Samson plantation. Miss Amma Dean maintains the racial social order on the plantation. Her dislike of Robert Samson's black son Timmy most obviously indicates how she expects the traditional decorum of blacks. Still, her harsh treatment of Timmy also relates to her dismay at her husband's infidelity. Her affection for her own son and her extreme grief at his suicide also makes her a sympathetic character. Gaines makes Miss Amma Dean a sympathetic character who demonstrates the way that the strict patriarchy pushed women in the old southern realm aside.

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Important Quotations Explained

In closing I wish to thank all the wonderful people who were at Miss Jane's house through those long months of interviewing her, because this is not only Miss Jane's autobiography, it is theirs as well.

The editor makes this statement in the very last paragraph of the Introduction. The quote demonstrates the editor's desire that Miss Jane's autobiography serve as a communal narrative of black experience since slavery. Even though the story primarily focuses upon her life, many others experienced the events that she lived through, such as slavery, fleeing slavery, and Reconstruction. Even the particulars from later portions of Jane's life are communal. For example, not all black people in the South would have known about Ned Douglass's murder, but almost everyone would have known about someone who was similarly lynched. Likewise, not all black people lived on the Samson plantation but many lived on one that was similar. Ernest Gaines carefully studied individual histories of ex-slaves before he created the character of Jane Pittman. In fact, he said that because her story seems so real, he has often received letters from readers who argue against the idea that Jane is fictional. The fact that many people believe that Jane is real testifies to the communal nature of her story.

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