ESSAY CEMETERY

Themes ·        A yearning that is never satisfied ·        Blacks are a problem in America ·        The struggle of the blacks is never openly addressed ·        Negro as seventh son ·        Desire to outdo whites ·        Blacks hate whites ·        Blacks are subservient to whites ·        Blacks are strangers in their own house ·        Blacks have no identity of their own ·        The black identity is dual and conflicting: American and Negro ·        The struggle to build an identity out of merging of the two ·        Love-hate relationship with African culture ·        Not knowing what to do with freedom ·        Path to true freedom through voting and education ·        Education takes a long time ·        A combination of work, culture and liberty are needed for black empowerment ·        Black culture and lore is at the heart of America Style and devices ·        Flowery language “That sky was bluest when I could beat my mates

Black people are regarded as a problem in the United States. DuBois has been aware of his status as a "problem" since a white girl at school refused to interact with him. This causes him to be contemptuous of whites and relish beating them in competition. His contempt fades when he realizes that it is they who have more opportunities than he, and he resolves to attain these opportunities for himself as well. Other blacks were not so competitive but rather subservient, or hateful and angry at whites. Blacks are only able to see themselves as whites see them, thus having no identity of their own. They are both Negro and American and these identities contradict. The wish of the blacks is to merge these identities into one, and to achieve equality. There have been powerful black men in history and now that blacks have been emancipated it is time to find that power once more. The seeming weakness of the blacks stems from their contradicting identities. Blacks are ashamed