Within any society, there are borders that separate all citizens of the population into different classifications. Among these boundaries are race, class, and gender. Crossing one of these boundaries constitutes a great achievement for those who take on the challenge. Unfortunately, any feat of crossing a boundary – whether of race, like WEB Du Bois in The Souls of Black Folk, class, like Dalton Conley in Honky, or gender, like Jenny Boylan in She's Not There – is considered a threat to the surrounding population. Crossing a racial boundary is generally seen as the greatest threat to those near the crossing. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Refuting the belief that anyone can "advance" in life by moving to another class, Conley writes in his memoir, Honky, that only wealth can help someone advance in terms of social class . Living among minorities while associating with the white population, Conley witnessed life in the lower and upper middle classes. As a teenager, Conley's best friend Michael Holt and his family were wealthy and able to live upper-middle class: "The honesty and morality of the home were such that the Holts could move on to a more ambitious agenda." They often went, spoke and even held political rallies, and not just in the PS 41 schoolyard” (Conley, 83). Thanks to their comfortable financial situation, the Holts were able to settle down and enjoy the upper middle class. This showed that the only way someone could advance to another class was to be financially strong; Because very few people would earn enough to advance in terms of social class, those who were already in the higher classes were less vulnerable to the threat of border crossing. In The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois states his belief that education would be the key to success. African-Americans join the same class as the white population. The establishment of universities would help the South educate its citizens, "but [the South] lacks that vast knowledge of what the world knows and knew of human life and doings, which [the South could] apply to a thousand problems of real life.” today by confronting it” (Du Bois, 70 years old). Du Bois argues that receiving an education at one of the Southern colleges would help revive the distinct diversity of African Americans as well as their history and culture. However, this education would also create a threat to the white class because African Americans would have the same education and would also be in the same class. In her autobiography, She's Not There, Jenny Boylan describes how others felt somewhat threatened when she passed through the white class. the boundary from male to female. All his life, Jim Boylan knew he was a woman inside, but he always wondered if others around him felt threatened by his desire to be a woman: "I thought I looked good [dressed as a woman], if you didn't look very close. Still, I stayed inside. I didn’t want to jeopardize the program or my own professional integrity by risking intrigue” (Boylan, 115). After her operation, he knew Jenny would have to explain herself: “The more we feel obliged to continue explaining ourselves, the less we resemble others” (Boylan, 250). Jenny tried to tell the.