Analysis of "Mississippi burning" in the context of setting, events, characters and their role, techniques and the historical period.

Essay by japstarHigh School, 10th gradeA+, March 2007

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Mississippi Burning is a film directed by Alan Parker that was released in 1988. It depicts the case of Mississippi Burning, which took place in 1964, where three civil rights workers went missing. The FBI was notified only to find the sheriffs office linked to the Ku Klux Klan and accountable for the disappearances of the three boys.

This film follows an investigation carried out by FBI agents into the disappearances of three civil rights workers, who campaigned for the rights of "blacks".

As the case unfolds, vital evidence, such as the workers abandoned car are found and turmoils are faced by the main characters, Agents Anderson and Ward. The case proceeds when more FBI agents are called in and the sheriffs offices involvement is discovered. As a last resort, Ward does things Andersons way and as a result, information is received from the Deputys wife, which leads to the bodies being recovered and the men involved, charged with violating civil rights.

The film is set in the fictional town of Jessup County in Mississippi. Segregation is prominent in this town where many of the whites; live in the town, whilst the blacks; are shown living on the outskirts in rundown houses. The setting is also presented in a manner where the town is shown to be in the middle of nowhere in order to depict the belief that their crimes would go unknown due to its isolation to the higher authorities.

Mississippi Burning is a fictionalised depiction of the events in Mississippi in 1964. The movie portrays a period in history during the 1960s, where segregation and racial discrimination dominated. It was a period when civil rights movements were held to fight for the rights of "blacks" such as the Freedom Summer Movements and The Watts Riots of...