The Warmth of Other Suns Lesson Plan

When Ida Mae turns down the white man's advances at her cleaning job, he is disappointed and annoyed but not enraged or violent. How is this experience a metaphor for the differences between the North and South?

In both the North and the South, a Black maid could be expected and pressured to provide sexual favors for a white employer. The key difference is that, in the South, an employer would see such favors as his right. Refusal would likely be met with assault. In the North, it would be seen as more of a fringe benefit. Refusal would be possible, though it might mean losing the job. Ida Mae's experience, therefore, is a clear metaphor for the differences between the...