conference itself is an influence on the perception of racism by Alice Knight. At first, she thought see was taking a break from the insults of the city and could live as a normal human being. Unfortunately, the white people did not change even at the Rest House.Secondly, the characters are influenced by racism. To begin, the understanding that both Alice and Gib are racist is essential. Although, both suffer in a different way from this problem. Mrs. Taylor has always lived with racist manners. She is old and the acceptance of the black people is incomprehensible. In addition, the majority of the people at the conference were white and could not punish her for such a saying towards Miss Knight. At the end, Mrs. Taylor's racist attitude kills her. In another sense, Alice Knight is killed too. However, she dies gradually as life advances. In fact, the conference is Alice Knight's hope to live some days as an accepted human being ("oasis in the desert"). Nonetheless, her dream shatters into pieces when Gib Taylor shouts the word "nigger". Then, she returns to her inanimate state. A state which is governed by fear, insecurity and hatred. Such attitudes are observed at the dinner table after the intervention of Mrs Taylor. First, Alice is breathless because she could not believe the cruelty of the old white-haired white woman. She was embarrassed and hateful towards this white person. Although, she could not express herself in front of all the other white people. This explains her immobility and insecurity. "For at that moment she saw everything multiplied". The main character was right to suspect all the other white people in the room. They all choose to approve Gib Taylor with a long and questioning silence. Petry makes each reader feel that through a very powerful metaphor. The straw bridge over silence grasps the feeling of complicity by everyone in at the conference. A character like Alice Knight is one that re...
