Alex Jordan
Professor Juniper Ellis
EN 101.16
16
October 2013
The
Times They Are a-Changin’
A reoccurring theme in Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s “Theology”,
Countee Cullen’s “Tableau” and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, is inequality. Both “Theology” and “Tableau” speak
about a person who is African American and is being treated with inequality.
“Theology” speaks about a person who is a slave and is talking about his
neighbors who he does not explicitly say are white. In “Tableau” it speaks
about how people view a young black boy and a young white boy who are good
friends. Throughout the era in which “Theology” and “Tableau” were written,
inequality and slavery played an enormous role in day to day life.
In Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s “Theology”, the speaker is
giving the reader a firsthand view from the perspective of a slave. He
discusses the possibility of a “heaven” and a “hell”. The speaker says “There
is a hell, I’m quite as sure; for pray, If there were not, where would my
neighbors go?” The speaker is describing his hate and hostility towards his
neighbor and how he knows that they are going to hell for what they have done.
The speaker shows a sense of longing for equality with his neighbors.
In Countee Cullen’s “Tableau” It describes a friendship
between two young boys that people think should not be. The poem starts with
“Locked arm in arm they cross the way, The black boy and the white”. They
already have shown inequality be describing race. The speaker goes on to say
“From lowered blinds the dark folk stare”, which shows that the people who are
not approving of this friendship are in fact the African American community. It
shows that the African American community still had animosity towards white
people especially since segregation played a major role in the south during the
early 1900’s. The speaker discusses how the two young kids were “Oblivious to
look and word they pass, and see no wonder”. It shows that they young kids saw
nothing wrong with what they were doing and how their friendship was important
to them.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
the monster that was created felt out of place. He explained to Viktor how
he felt like he did not belong in this world and how he was confused about whom
he was. The speaker wanted the readers to feel bad for the monster and to feel
his pain of not being equal. It shows how not being equal affects the monster.
All the monster wanted was to feel a sense of comfort and to know that he
belonged.
I attended a speech about the Messina project. A topic
the resonated throughout the speakers there was equality. They spoke about the
Jesuit education and how it aims to educate the whole body. It gives each
student an equal opportunity to better their education and to further their
knowledge of themselves and the world around them. I feel this is important for
everyone to have an equal opportunity of education and for each person to
receive the same treatment.
The overall theme was equality. In today’s world equality
is still important factor in life and I think should continue being important.
People are created equal and therefore should be treated equal.
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