On Being Brought from Africa to America - Essay Example

2 July On Being Brought from Africa to America: Summary and Related Critical Articles and Essays Summary of Work In her poem entitled “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, Phillis Wheatley illustrates the positive side of being an African American, particularly as an American slave. The poem profoundly looks into the soul and consciousness of an American slave narrator who makes an effort to contend with being snatched from her local residence and being displaced to the colonial America against her will. Wheatley was not really a fan of narrative poetry such that there is a modest story line in her poem when she writes: “’twas mercy brought me from my pagan land” (605). It rather implies that the narrator was brought to America from Africa because of “mercy”; it is the same mercy that introduced and induced her to Christianity – something that is nearly unheard in Africa. What is really surprising is that the narrator expresses no complaints about what she went through as a young slave. Instead, she is grateful for the circumstances associated with being slave in America in that she has become familiar with the huge Christian denomination that acquainted her to Christianity. While many people regard her race disapprovingly, the poem shows her belief that Christianity does not discriminate anyone in terms of race, colour, or any other social categorizations; that even Blacks, much more an African slave, has the right to be accustomed with Christianity. While “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is a relatively short poem, it is sufficient enough to describe the circumstance and the injustices and discrimination that African Americans received from the White population. We can recall that in the first part of the poem, particularly in first line, the narrator contends that it was a blessing, a mercy from God that she was pulled out of his native land and repositioned to America. She did not place much emphasis on what she had to go through, specifically as an African slave and the hardships that she had to deal with; nevertheless, she is pleased with the chance to be able to know God and establish her faith in Him. The narrator was put into a severe social situation in which the White population is scornfully mocking at the Black people. As a matter of fact, in the poem, the author writes that the Whites consider the skin colour of the African slaves as “diabolic dye” (605). Although, she likewise cited that while “Christians, Negros, black as Cain”…the author writes that they “may be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train” (605).These lines clearly express the author’s personal standpoint on humanity that any person, whether black or white, has no right to judge another person according to his or her skin tone, or in a much wider context, according to a person’s existential inheritance because God polished him and made him perfect. Another interesting part of the poem is the author’s appealing choice of words. She uses the words “sable”, “benighted”, and even the phrase “diabolic die”; all have relevance to her race and colour. She also makes an attempt to merge the Black and the White population by using the words “angelic train”. The word “sable” is somewhat like an exaggerated description of the colour of an African American, which literally means “black clothing worn in mourning”. The word “benighted” means being in a state of darkness, whether social, moral or intellectual. When the author states “taught my benighted soul to understand” (605), she may be talking about her existence stuck in the rut of social discrimination and prejudice, which alludes to the inherent social situation of the Negros. Wheatley also uses the phrase “diabolic die”, which serves as a hyperbolic portrayal of how the Negros’ skin looks like. This description is probably the worst in that it infers a lyrical likeness of the Negros’ skin to some degree of diabolical or demonic darkness. The trip of the poem has taken place both physically and mentally: first, it takes place physically in that the story line is set within two continents: Africa and America; second, the poem takes place mentally in that the narrator has gone from a comparatively illiterate society to a place that would eventually accustom her to Christianity and religion. The author narrates in a first person, singular as shown by her usage of the words “I” and “me”. Her usage of the word “our” as a collective noun suggests that the author is conveying her message to a group of people. Overall, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is a poem that points out the good side of being brought to America despite being a slave. In another point of view, it shows how one can physically and mentally changes a social situation by attracting the positivity of a certain circumstance such that the author uses the word “mercy” to consider his move from Africa to America as a blessing in spite of the negative things associated with it. Summaries of Critical Articles/Essays Klein, Lauren. “All Aboard!”: Analysis of Phyllis Wheatley’s ‘On Being Brought from Africa to America.” Formations of American Culture Fall 2012: n.p. Georgia Institute of Technology. 2 July 2013 < http://lkleincourses.lmc.gatech.edu/formac12/2012/10/07/all-aboard-analysis-of-phyllis-wheatleys-on-being-brought-from-africa-to-america/ Professor Lauren Klein argues that the gist of the poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America” is focused on the author’s thankfulness for being pulled out of her native land to be transferred to another land she is not familiar about. Professor Klein made a clear-cut reference to the word “mercy” as a well-defined description of how the author feels about writing the poem. Professor Klein writes: “it was ‘mercy’ that allowed her to come to this place shows that she was grateful for her enslavement because it introduced her to Christianity.” Klein argues that the choice of words subtly made Wheatley’s point across in which he alludes to her enslavement as a mercy coming from God. Professor Klein also touches on the author’s use of the word “benighted”. He says that while the word primarily refers to the skin colour of the Negros, it also conveys illiteracy and unawareness associated with it. Professor Klein notes, “Her use of the term ‘benighted’ is an indicator not only of her skin colour but the ignorance associated with it.” However, Professor Klein further explains that by using the word “ignorance” does not necessarily mean that African Americans are comparatively less intelligent than their White counterparts; he clarifies that African Americans are only ignorant in a sense that they are “unaware of the amazing thing that is Christianity.” Lastly, Professor Klein observes that the opening lines shows only a little of the real motive of the author upon the writing the poem. He writes that on the face of it, it seems like the author is purely writing about her thankfulness for her enslavement that made her become accustomed to Christianity. But, beyond that, Professor Klein discovers that “at the second pass over, her true tone is revealed”. He further writes, “By using the word ‘Remember’, the author is taking a position of power as if she already has grasp on the reader. In the way she positions the words ‘Christians’ and ‘Negros’ and saying that they ALL might be refined and join the train to heaven.” Professor Klein argues that the real intention of that author in writing the poem is to dissolve that disenfranchisement that resulted from a culturally-shaped belief that African Americans - their colours and all other aspects of their existence - are relatively inferior to that of the Whites. Peterson, Tamalyn, "An Examination of Secrecy in Twentieth-Century African American Literature" (2013). English Dissertations. Paper 110. Georgia State University. Web. 2 July 2013 Tamalyn Peterson argues that Wheatley’s poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America” displays that author’s ability to “maintain her connectedness to her homeland and people, while simultaneously subverting the written word, the very written word she masters early on, despite being in a foreign environment.” At first glance, Wheatley conveys apparent thankfulness and appreciation for being taken from Africa to America, refined and rescued by Christianity. Although, Peterson argues that the author’s apparent thankfulness may be taken lightly by the readers. It is clear that Wheatley controls and directs that language to denote and reinvent her individuality and connectedness to his former land Africa. Nonetheless, this manipulation of the language to re-establish her identity does not come to picture in a single face. The first four lines which states: “’Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, taught my benighted soul to understand, that theres a God, that theres a Saviour too: Once I redemption neither sought nor knew”, according to Peterson “set up and extend Wheatley’s double talk.” Peterson indicates of “double talk” as the two dispositions the author hints on the poem: on one hand, she seems grateful and pleased; on the other hand, the author attracts attention to the fact that “her creation of this poem may not have occurred had she not been the victim of the Middle Passage”, Peterson further explains. In his review, Tamalyn Peterson observes that there is a significant difference between the author’s “homeland practices and rituals” and Christianity’s limits based on skin colour; however, this truth has only been found out when the author was brought to America and got the chance to familiarize with Christianity. Because of this, Peterson believes that the author began to realize the possibility of refining the Negro’s identity to fit in the so-called “angelic train”. This is clearly shown in the last two lines of the poem that states: “Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, may be refin’d, and join the angelic train.” Lastly, Peterson declares that Wheatley attempts to salvage the concept of home and redefine its meaning. Wheatley defied curbing them [the Negros] or “be bound by their diasporic placement.” In “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, she showed how her native homeland afforded her little opportunity to improve her identity that in her transfer to America, while it was against her will, brought her to some degree of success: she knew things she had not known before; that is aside from the fact that she was grateful of her transfer from her native land to America. Baldwin, Jamie and David Townsend. “Phillis Wheatley: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious, and Moral 1773” (2009). Master Dissertations. Department of English & Theatre, University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Web. 2 July 2013 In Wheatley’s “On Being Brought from Africa to America”, Baldwin and Townsend contends that the author gives an inkling of “a sense of urgency”; Baldwin and Townsend further explain that it is obvious that Wheatley is “crying out” in hopes that the White population will recognize her in the same manner she perceives God will regard her. A more striking question is being posed by Baldwin and Townsend regarding the mysterious difference between heaven and earth, they raise: “if slaves can join their masters as equals in heaven, why then can they not do the same on earth?” This remarkable inquiry reveals the real existence of disenfranchisement and prejudice in both the historical and current social settings of America: African Americans are considered inferior to the White population. The two critics further spot the shrewd arrangement of words in the poem; they state: “The words Christians and Negros are placed side by side, forcing readers to juxtapose these separate entities, thereby hinting at their equality.” From a reader’s point of view, the arrangement of words in the poem creates a sense of inevitable reconciliation between the qualities of the Negros and the nearly inexistent requisites of being a Christian. In other words, Baldwin and Townsend believe that the author’s main objective is to eradicate the marginalizing notions of the apparent requirements of converting into Christianity; thus, Wheatley is clear at establishing her point that skin colour cannot serve as a basis for qualification for someone who intends to be part of the great religion of Christianity. “How Do You Read Phillis Wheatley?: Implications for Pedagogy.” Brooklyn.liu. Long Island University at Brooklyn website. Web. 2 July 2013 In a critical article from the Long Island University at Brooklyn website, it has been observed that Wheatley’s “On Being Brought from Africa to America” entails a celebration of God’s mercy in “bringing her from the “Pagan land” to the New World, and immediately creates the complexity that astounds the reader.” The critic asks on how to interpret her words considering the manifold, overlapping contexts that encompass the poem; in other words, the poem can be interpreted in various, countless ways so how do we determine the author’s real objective in writing the poem? The critic then infers that the circumstance she creates in her poem is “profound”; “she uses ironic contrast again and goes further to attack the mentality of the enslavers.” According to the article, the author uses this ironic contrast in order to “teach the lesson she intends in the remaining four lines, where her direct references to race and the imagery contained in the Biblical Cain, refinement, and ‘th’’ angelic train’ paint the picture clearly that she is against slavery.” In the poem, the author is serious at expressing her strong disapproval over slavery, prejudice and disenfranchisement as manifested by the word “Remember!”. The article further explicates that the use of the word “Remember” with the addition of an exclamation mark, is “leaving no doubt in the careful reader’s mind that she is in full control of her elements and is nobody’s derivative. The italicized words in the poem, according to the article, present a very significant issue: “a false analogy of the white superiority.” According to it, every person, whether white or black, has to be refined first before he or she can be qualified to join the angelic train. Response to Literary Criticism The literary criticism that has been presented by the articles expresses the various angles that the poem can be interpreted. There is no right and wrong interpretations unless the writer herself validates the criticisms presented in each of the critical essay or article recapitulated above. But I would like to give commendations to each of these articles in that they have clearly made their points and supported them with literary evidence and sharp analysis. First, Laurens argument that the poem, by and large, touches on the perceived gratefulness of the author despite being pulled out of her native land and transferred to another land she is not accustomed to is an inference that is common among the four critical essays I have discussed. There is indeed a feeling of thankfulness in the writers disposition as expressed in her poem; although, in Petersons argument, the author did not only convey her gratefulness but she also attracts the attention of the readers that the poem has been written only because she became a victim of the Middle Passage. This is what Peterson coined as “double talk”. These two interpretations may have overlapping ideas but their clear-cut implications boil down to one thing: the authors reposition from Africa to America is a mercy or a blessing from God. I also agree with Baldwin and Townsends argument that believes that the author heavily concentrates on the real intention of the poem: to tell the world, particularly the White population, that Christianity is not made for a particular type of people; that affiliation to the great religion of Christianity has no requirement. In other words, according to Baldwin and Townsend, the author argues that whether you are white or black, you are free to familiarize and affiliate with the Christian denomination. Lastly, last piece of critical article shows a very interesting and striking contention over a major theme in the poem, that is, slavery and prejudice of the White toward the Negros. The article believes that what causes all the marginalization and prejudice of the Whites towards the Blacks is the “false analogy of the White superiority”. I really applaud this observation in that the notion of White’s superiority has indeed gone too far, encompassing the different societal aspects including education, power, and rights, which is not supposed to take place. Read More