3. It no longer seemed important to prove anything. I had found
something outside myself that gave meaning to my life.
In Chapter 22, while Anne is trying to decide what to do after
college, she realizes that she is content with being an activist, and does
not need to seek others’ approval or achieve financial security. Her whole
life, Anne had striven for approval and recognition, and also to make money.
Now, having finally achieved her college education, Anne is broke and
hungry. But she does not care whether she has a real job or not. She prefers
to work in the movement, where she can act on her drive to fight racial
inequality, and where she feels accepted. Anne even feels more at home among
her fellow activists than among her family members. When she reunites with
family in New Orleans, she does not even know how to talk with them. She
feels an urge to move back to Canton with the other activists. As a memoir
of a life in activism, Coming of Age provides an important
insight into why people would take on the risks and trying lifestyle of
full-time activist. For Anne, the lack of traditional rewards is made up for
by intangible ones, to the point that she is willing to go
hungry.
