Martin's Af-Am Lit Blog

America by Henry Dumas, a poem that speaks about freedom and what it means to be American. Henry Dumas gives imagery of a coin being flipped in the air where one can see the American eagle flying in the air but not leaving the coin. This could be read as a metaphor for how liberty is controlled by money and how capitalism is what controls the United States of America. We already discussed this in class though… I was interested in the larger picture. What does the coin flip represent? I researched that Henry Dumas, before he himself was killed by police brutality, was an advocate for those of his own race that were being killed unjustly. It seemed like it was just a wrong place at the wrong time or being where the right racist cop was the feeling his right sentiments. While it may be premeditated or instinct for the killer there is nothing that the victim can do. The coin toss that is described in the poem can represent the seemingly odds-based way that the murders are committed....

Sambo and the coin bank Ellison portrays the narrator’s experiences with racist objects to provide insight into the black stereotypes plaguing the nation and how the narrator perceives them. The coin bank and Sambo are separated by many chapters yet share similar meanings. They both have racist connotations from times of slavery and infuriate the narrator. The stereotyped appearance of the coin bank that is introduced in the 15th chapter doesn’t appear until the narrator is leaving Mary’s place where he proceeds to smash it to smithereens. Sambo appears just as spontaneously as the piece of early Americana and makes the narrator just as transfixed as when he saw the bank. Both appeared to be right under his nose, “Then near the door I saw something which I’d never noticed there before: the cast-iron figure of a very black, red-lipped and wide-mouthed Negro, whose white eyes stared up at me from the floor...(319)” and when he sees Sambo he says, “Puzzled, I moved into the crowd and p...

Being chased with a frying pan while you attempt to survive isn’t a life lived by many people, but it is a great metaphor for what life is like for Bigger and the people he lives with. We already discussed how like the rat, Bigger is just trying to survive and is being attacked for doing just that, but who are the others in the room and how do they fit into the metaphor being created? What is the Rat’s setting and actions be related towards what Bigger is experiencing?     Let us think about what the Rat’s life is like before his appointment with cast iron. The Rat has been living like Bigger for almost his whole life. The Rat is most likely forced to live in a very small area, in addition, Bigger has also been forced to live in a small apartment with his family due to artificial housing shortages, but there is plenty of space for both in Chicago. Also, why would the Rat steal food from a poor family? It’s like how Bigger has only robbed from other blacks.  ...