The Price of A Child Analysis

Jennifer Tabasco 11-2
English III
Mr. Fiorini
January 30, 2009

Mercer Gray: A Phenomenal Speaker

In Lorene Cary’s, The Price of a Child, a strong, independent mother named Ginnie Pryor takes the bold initiative of instituting her freedom and the chance to begin a new life as a free woman. For this analysis, my paper will be mainly focused on Chapter 11 titled “Her Father’s Tooth.” I want to focus my discussion on the emotional impact that Chapter 11 exuberated on me.
As Ginnie Pryor, or also known as Mercer Gray, took bold steps on stating her perspective on various political issues on subjects like the complicated webs of slavery, her personal experiences as a slave woman in the South, and the concept of an actual freedom, it really dawned on to me that this African American woman not only has so much to say on these certain issues, but that she is expressing her world opinions to the middle-class citizens who already own half of what she has in her possession. Mercer Gray had the dignity, strength, and courage to stand up to the white middle-class people and tell them her personal opinions as an African woman. This fictional main character really inspired me not only because of how intellectual her choice of diction was, but because of who she was representing as apart of an African culture, beaten and demolished over the centuries of American history.
As Mercer Gray began crossing the country expressing her personal viewpoints, she became much more confident in her words and in her presence as a speaker to the white public. “Slavery is to be feared. The misery of millions of people is to be feared. Their unanswered prayers are to be feared. The soul sickness of a country that allows murder and mayhem and pretends not to notice is to be feared. Rich and powerful men will tell you to fear my people free. I tell you, I fear for all of us so long as we are not.” The following statements made by Mercer Grave struck a powerful chord to me because through these demanding statements, Mercer really showed her true colors to the white society and that she wasn’t afraid to fully show herself because of how much stronger her speech became as she spoke each and every word eloquently. When Mercer placed herself in front of the audience, both Mercer and the white society felt the immediate tension simmering between them because for Mercer, she was very anxious on how her well-written speech would go and if things with her audience would be well-handled, and as for the white audience, the audience probably made assumptions on Mercer based on her race in that she wasn't literate at all, and that this was just some African woman saying words whenever she pleased. The white audience would consider Mercer to be a worthless woman so her words automatically must be worthless, too because of her outer racial background.
In conclusion, Mercer Gray should be recognized as a fictional character who never backed down on her specific word choices and who always knew what to say at the right moment in time. Mercer became progressively stronger not only in her academic studies as a reader and a writer but also in her social abilities to freely express to others her personal viewpoints on situations that really made an impact on herself. Mercer transformed the white’s perspectives on how to view slavery from her personal standpoint because of how extremely precise her words were in explaining her feelings and emotions and how immensely powerful Mercer’s word choices affected the reader.