Born in Mississippi
Content
The grieving self requires the acceptance of an atmosphere. It may mean that a person will want to run from the exact person, place, or thing which creates a specific situation. “A poem for myself”, by Etheridge Knight, depicts a situation of a man trying to find home in all the wrong places; and does so in the backdrop of the racial struggle between the north and south. He finds salvation, not in Mississippi or Detroit, but finds light by experiencing the world in his own mind. This poem has locations but we are placed in the experienced mind, one which will always shed light to a tunnel. The Earth is home to many walks of life, all of which grieve their own way, but life persists enough to the dual purpose between the natural and the mystical. African Americans long served as slaves for our country, but the purpose of this essay will be to avoid racism as much as possible; by extracting more supernatural lessons, but since racism cannot be avoided there will be associations related to liberation within the spectrum of racist America. The title of this piece relates to the self; there are no real racial indifferences with the title, but the character in the title suffered from great mistake. Racism was a huge tool; America built much upon the grip, similarly as the way that Europe used serfs to lift their own country out of difficult times, but borrowing something does not make American slaveholders any less evil. To begin, yes, there are certainly immediate symbols of the political struggle between the Northern and Southern states. And yes, Mississippi is still used in every day expression, and racists typically use Mississippi allude to black slavery in the south. There are some myriad interpretations of history; but Mississippi is home to the persona, and with the repetition of Mississippi, and with the complexity of northern cities, we may imply that Mississippi keeps his mind at home. This persona never leaves Mississippi because Mississippi is part of his mind; all
the suffering, which he may witnessed, as well as the emotional turmoil of his own family helped maintain his courage. The writer enacts a symbolically rhetorical proof method of repetition. Some people constantly repeat things, not necessarily because a person has no other tools, but if done correctly, speech can have endless possibilities through using tone. Anaphora can be used effortlessly in speech because changes in tone can be recognized with the ear, and we know that when somebody is constantly saying something to you in many different ways, then you should probably be sure that it is important, but some people don’t begin to listen until it is too late. Knight begins the poem saying, “I was born in Mississippi; I walked barefooted thru the mud.” and repeats it, but embodies the repetition with saying he was born black in Mississippi. Saying born black in Mississippi creates a new dimension. Something does not necessary sound better if you say it twice, it may actually force people to listen less inventively, but close examination to the changes give light to a deeper meaning. The writer did not even need to use the words, “born black”, because it would likely be implied reasoning that is similar to the title. Either way, the conditions of being born in Mississippi are difficult to imagine; and if a person has many awakenings, then acknowledging being born black is an experience that takes time. This person learned to look racism straight into the eye. The writer does not want to hide the fact that he was born black; this poem is about the condition, which was very specific to blacks and slavery, and this man in particular had a chance to stand on top of the pain. The image of walking barefooted through the mud is one of hope. People do not typically wish to walk through mud, and some wont even do it with boots. We pick up germs every second of our lives. But, again, walking barefooted in Mississippi is almost identical as
saying you are born black. A person will walk as far as it takes, and fear is one which goes hand in hand with courage; there has never been failure in a moment because people always have courage to do something. Even doing nothing is a choice and it stands as something. But people do make mistakes, which ultimately serve as experience, and walking through mud builds a type of character that one desired, but perhaps did not wish for. It is unfortunate that our country allowed a mess to happen, slavery destroyed the innocence of many, but we have nothing but experience to stand on top of. All of humanity is in the constant search for liberation, and sometimes found last place one would check. This occurrence is set up differently, as this boy left home at the age of 12. A child leaving Mississippi; leaving the mess, and pain of his fathers eyes; and to never again see the light, which shines directly from his mothers eyes. She is very important to his life; it is, again demonstrated through anaphora that we must always find and always question. Why does she stare into the sun? They say to never look into the sun, it is so far, but of course not as far as those ones we see in the night sky. But, it is close with hope, and perhaps that was the natural hope that a mother had for her boy that day. The poem makes it clear that it was Sunday; most days of the week are filled with work, and the weekend gets filled up in desire. Sundays are traditionally days of worship, and church, and may be filled with love and family. The decision to send the 12 year old seems conscious. Life as a slave should not be tolerated, but the birth of life is as confusing as racism itself. The parents were sending their son away to find his dream. It was far from their own dream, a father drinking whisky on a holy day summarizes the type of decision it must have been.
The departure of the boy is a quiet mess. He is symbolized as a wild goose that flies north. Geese don’t really need to be told to do something, they have an inner compass and use it well; a wild goose is much different than the rest. There does not seem to be any guidance; as his parents are willing to just throw him into the biggest cities in the world, and leave him to find his own way. It was probably a case that involved the inability because a wild goose must first accept oneself. The writer uses Chicago, Detroit, and New York City as destinations; but he does not implicate huge importance on the locations because all the cities taught him the same thing. These cities are generally considered lights to the end of tunnels. People often invest their entire lives to move to large cities, only to find themselves yearning fly back home. The hope and life of big cities infinite dreams, this poem shows how the boy found his dream through his experiences. The cities are considered to be, “funky avenues”, because they might be really cool, but fail to deliver the fatal punch. He is after freedom but he is locked up in himself. The light to the end of his tunnel was not New York City, but back to Mississippi. He writes, “I'm still the same old black boy with the same old blues.”, and sometimes when you have the blues, you just want to cry back to yesteryear. He tried to leave and bury his passed, it seems that his passed buried him alive only to allow himself to dig himself out of the mud. We don’t know what his life was really like, we don’t know what he actually saw in Mississippi, and don’t know what he saw in New York City; but the fact that he took his moments back to Mississippi, because it may stand as the key to his soul, means he found what he was looking for in his own way as a wild goose. His dream was always in the making, as all dreams are always making us find awakening. This poem is deliberately expressing the pain which society can bring because humanity is indifferent to those who do not accept pain.
African American writing often displays the blues, and we should always be thankful to see man face his fears.
the suffering, which he may witnessed, as well as the emotional turmoil of his own family helped maintain his courage. The writer enacts a symbolically rhetorical proof method of repetition. Some people constantly repeat things, not necessarily because a person has no other tools, but if done correctly, speech can have endless possibilities through using tone. Anaphora can be used effortlessly in speech because changes in tone can be recognized with the ear, and we know that when somebody is constantly saying something to you in many different ways, then you should probably be sure that it is important, but some people don’t begin to listen until it is too late. Knight begins the poem saying, “I was born in Mississippi; I walked barefooted thru the mud.” and repeats it, but embodies the repetition with saying he was born black in Mississippi. Saying born black in Mississippi creates a new dimension. Something does not necessary sound better if you say it twice, it may actually force people to listen less inventively, but close examination to the changes give light to a deeper meaning. The writer did not even need to use the words, “born black”, because it would likely be implied reasoning that is similar to the title. Either way, the conditions of being born in Mississippi are difficult to imagine; and if a person has many awakenings, then acknowledging being born black is an experience that takes time. This person learned to look racism straight into the eye. The writer does not want to hide the fact that he was born black; this poem is about the condition, which was very specific to blacks and slavery, and this man in particular had a chance to stand on top of the pain. The image of walking barefooted through the mud is one of hope. People do not typically wish to walk through mud, and some wont even do it with boots. We pick up germs every second of our lives. But, again, walking barefooted in Mississippi is almost identical as
saying you are born black. A person will walk as far as it takes, and fear is one which goes hand in hand with courage; there has never been failure in a moment because people always have courage to do something. Even doing nothing is a choice and it stands as something. But people do make mistakes, which ultimately serve as experience, and walking through mud builds a type of character that one desired, but perhaps did not wish for. It is unfortunate that our country allowed a mess to happen, slavery destroyed the innocence of many, but we have nothing but experience to stand on top of. All of humanity is in the constant search for liberation, and sometimes found last place one would check. This occurrence is set up differently, as this boy left home at the age of 12. A child leaving Mississippi; leaving the mess, and pain of his fathers eyes; and to never again see the light, which shines directly from his mothers eyes. She is very important to his life; it is, again demonstrated through anaphora that we must always find and always question. Why does she stare into the sun? They say to never look into the sun, it is so far, but of course not as far as those ones we see in the night sky. But, it is close with hope, and perhaps that was the natural hope that a mother had for her boy that day. The poem makes it clear that it was Sunday; most days of the week are filled with work, and the weekend gets filled up in desire. Sundays are traditionally days of worship, and church, and may be filled with love and family. The decision to send the 12 year old seems conscious. Life as a slave should not be tolerated, but the birth of life is as confusing as racism itself. The parents were sending their son away to find his dream. It was far from their own dream, a father drinking whisky on a holy day summarizes the type of decision it must have been.
The departure of the boy is a quiet mess. He is symbolized as a wild goose that flies north. Geese don’t really need to be told to do something, they have an inner compass and use it well; a wild goose is much different than the rest. There does not seem to be any guidance; as his parents are willing to just throw him into the biggest cities in the world, and leave him to find his own way. It was probably a case that involved the inability because a wild goose must first accept oneself. The writer uses Chicago, Detroit, and New York City as destinations; but he does not implicate huge importance on the locations because all the cities taught him the same thing. These cities are generally considered lights to the end of tunnels. People often invest their entire lives to move to large cities, only to find themselves yearning fly back home. The hope and life of big cities infinite dreams, this poem shows how the boy found his dream through his experiences. The cities are considered to be, “funky avenues”, because they might be really cool, but fail to deliver the fatal punch. He is after freedom but he is locked up in himself. The light to the end of his tunnel was not New York City, but back to Mississippi. He writes, “I'm still the same old black boy with the same old blues.”, and sometimes when you have the blues, you just want to cry back to yesteryear. He tried to leave and bury his passed, it seems that his passed buried him alive only to allow himself to dig himself out of the mud. We don’t know what his life was really like, we don’t know what he actually saw in Mississippi, and don’t know what he saw in New York City; but the fact that he took his moments back to Mississippi, because it may stand as the key to his soul, means he found what he was looking for in his own way as a wild goose. His dream was always in the making, as all dreams are always making us find awakening. This poem is deliberately expressing the pain which society can bring because humanity is indifferent to those who do not accept pain.
African American writing often displays the blues, and we should always be thankful to see man face his fears.
