English & Literature

Who is Aunt Tempy Siles from Not Without Laughter and what is their importance? Not_Without_Laughter English & Literature Aunt Tempy Siles | Not Without Laughter

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The oldest of the three Williams sisters, Aunt Tempy did her best to lose her black "dialect" and learn to read when working for a progressive suffragette. When the woman died, she left Tempy one of her homes; Tempy has already saved money to have a home of her own. She then married Mr. Siles, who was also educated and reasonably well-off. Together, they did their best to hide their "low-class" black pasts and to act more like white people so that blacks would be treated better. In general, she pursues an "assimiliationist" strategy of ignoring what was unique about black culture and she discourages Sandy from having any ties to the "low-class" black community. She even stopped going to the Baptist Church for the Episcopal one that had a more "refined" minister.