OVERALL ANALYSIS

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Booker T. Washington

The sheer magnitude of this man shines throughout his autobiography in spite of the fact that he is very modest about his accomplishments. His life is amazing, because he pulled himself out of the institution of slavery and was determined to pull his people up with him. He took every opportunity to propose his ideas and philosophies to all races so that attitudes would change in America. He saw many terrible things happen to his people, but remained optimistic that, with education and hard work, they could effectively blend into the dominate white society. He gathered fame through his good works, but never sought it out. He devoted his life to his students and his race and was sure that the day would come when the black man was totally accepted throughout the South and......

Booker’s Mother

She was an absolutely definitive influence on Booker’s life. She lived nearly all of her life as a slave, but never gave up hope that the Emancipation would come. She supported Booker in every endeavor he tried especially his desire for an education. She knew how much wearing a cap to school meant to him and that in spite of her deep poverty, she found a way to make him one. Booker said ever afterward that no cap or hat he ever owned meant as much. She taught him.......

Mrs. Ruffner

She was the wife of the owner of the salt mine where Booker worked in Malden, West Virginia. She became a valuable friend who taught him a great deal about cleanliness and the dignity of work when he took a position in her home. Other young black men had left her employ because she was.......

General Samuel C. Armstrong

He is the man Booker most admired in the world. After the Civil War, he took it upon himself to find a way to educate the black race and help them integrate into a dominant white society. As a result, he established the Hampton Institute and that is where Booker attended school. General Armstrong’s philosophies about how education and work go hand-in-hand later influenced Booker into applying them to his own educational ideas. He was also a.......

Miss Mary F. Mackie

She was the first person Booker met when he arrived at Hampton and was not at all impressed with him at first. Booker had arrived dirty and disheveled and his appearance made her think he needed testing to prove he was worthy of acceptance. As a result, she told him to sweep an..........

Miss Olive A. Davidson

She would eventually become Booker’s second wife, but he felt she was better known for her contributions to Tuskegee. She worked for.......

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