Comparing The Voice In 'Between The World And Me'

As we go through life, we go through a variety of different experiences that help shape who we are. Not only do they shape who we are, but they also begin to shape our voices. The different events people go through help change their voice. From when someone is born to when they are graduating from high school their voice changes a great many times. The changing of our voice helps us attain a greater meaning to life. Throughout “Middle Passage” written by Robert Hayden we see how he uses the voices of many different people. We then see in “Between the World and Me” written by Richard Wright, instead of using many different voices Wright shows us the evolution of one voice throughout the poem. Along with the poem “Between the World and Me” we also see how the voice that Ta-Nehisi Coates employs in Between The World and Me shows how voice can influence the story. “Middle Passage”, “Between the World and Me” and Between the World and Me all use voice to help give greater meaning to their stories.

The first poem we are going to look into is “Middle Passage.” Hayden writes about the Triangular Atlantic Slave Trade and gives a variety of point of views throughout “Middle Passage.” Hayden uses voices ranging from the slave traders on the ship to the slaves who are going through terrible conditions. Hayden employs these voices because he wants to give a much greater meaning to his poem overall. Hayden writes his poem in a way where he gives journal like experiences throughout his poem. Hayden uses the voice of what seems to be a higher power person but not the captain. He says “Blacks rebellious. Crew uneasy. Our linguist says their moaning is a prayer for death,” this helps the readers to realize how the crewmates view the slaves. It gives us the point of view of someone who is viewing this monstrosity. Hayden also gives the point of view of another crewmate who seems to be more closely tied to what is actually occurring. “That there was hardly room ‘tween-decks for half the sweltering cattle stowed spoon-fashion there” this helps us see what they were really experiencing without still giving us the point of view of the slaves which we will talk about shortly. This other crewmate shows us how the conditions that they were going through was not humane. Hayden then provides us with the view of the slaves, “8 bells. I cannot sleep, for I am sick with fear but writing eases fear a little” they long for just a brief period where they no longer have to fear what is going to happen to them. They would rather not know their fate because while on this ship they know exactly what is going to happen to them. Hayden uses these different point of views and how they each have a different voice because of their experiences throughout life to give a greater hidden meaning to the poem. Wright shows us that through “Between the World and Me” one voice can still provide a major impact on the meaning. Throughout “Between the World and Me” we see the evolution of one voice. We watch it grow as the poem progresses on through the experiences the man goes through and this is shown through the voice Wright employs. The poem begins with “I stumbled suddenly upon the thing”, this is a very vague statement and Wright uses this to show us how young this person is and how they are still unsure of what they have stumbled upon. They have no way of describing …show more content…
In “Middle Passage” we see how the voice of a variety of different characters enhances our view of the poem. In “Between the World and Me” by Wright we see how the distinct use of a single voice that is evolving while you read due to what is occurring. This method showed how the voice of a story does not need multiple people but one voice can still provide as much power. Lastly in Between the World and Me we see how Coates uses his voice as he is writing to his son about the dangers of life. Each of these help show how the voice in these pieces of writing help influence