Self-consciousness and Liberty in the Souls of Black Folk
“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” Who was Du Bois and what story did he write? Du Bois was the first African American to earn a phD from Harvard for this helped him to be able to write the extraordinary story the Souls of Black Folk. This story entails many central ideas. These central ideas are developed throughout the story by the use of figurative language to be allowed to take the story to an advanced level. Du Bois uses these as the main ideas to facilitate the message the story is trying to send out. The central ideas being used are self-consciousness and liberty.
Firstly being used as a central idea is self-consciousness.Du Bois employed the phrase, “If however, the vistas disclosed as yet no goal, no resting place, little but flattery and criticism, the journey at least gave leisure for reflection and self-examination. It changed the child of Emancipation to the youth with dawning self-consciousness, self-realization, and self-respect.” Du Bois utilizes the metaphor to progress the idea about how obligatory education was to take a step towards the right direction of being true to one’self or “self-consciousness.” This needed to be accomplished to be able to find who they are and to accept themselves. Word choice impacted the way the phrase was portrayed gives the message that finding oneself is a process that keeps on going. Another textual evidence Du Bois uses to develop the central idea is,“He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white americansism, for he know that Negro blood has a message for the world.” This phrase is being used to show that African Americans try masking who they are and not showing people there true colors this reason being because they are afraid of rejection. The only way they will be able to liberate themselves is to demonstrate who they are and celebrate themselves. Du Bois uses a second central idea to develop his story.
Secondly being used as a central idea is liberty. Du Bois uses figurative language to develop the central idea liberty. ”Will America be poorer if she replace her brutal dyspeptic blundering with light-hearted but determined Negro humidity? Of her coarse and cruel wit with loving Javi all good humor?” These rhetorical questions being used consistently one after the other brings the strengths of African Americans while contrasting White Americans frailty. This phrase highlights the good characteristics that African Americans have. Another phrase Du Bois utilizes in his passage to advance the main idea is,” and, all in all, we black men seem the doll oasis of simple faith and reverence in a dusty desert of dollars and smartness.” Du Bois used this central idea throughout the story to carry out how marvelous African Americans are and that they are what an American is all about. African Americans need to stay united as brothers because they are greater ones.
To conclude, Du Bois uses rhetorical devices to develop the central idea self-consciousness and liberty. Self-consciousness to show that it was obligatory for Arican Americans believe in who they truly are to be able to progress in America and change things. Liberty is being used to show how badly African American wanted to feel free they wanted to gain freedom. Du Bois uses figurative language to give a voice to African Americans through a story and to help send the message the story is trying to provide. This story uses two great main ideas to progress all the story wants to convey.
