From Slavery to a Newer Slavery
Although the titles of Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B” and Ralph Ellison’s “The Battle Royal” differ completely, they both intend to display African Americans as the subaltern and whites as the hegemony. The subaltern being a group or groups of people, who the hegemony imposes upon and the hegemony being the imposer of its own culture, environment and expectations upon the subaltern. In “Battle Royal” and “Theme for English B,” the hegemony imposes upon the subaltern by using different methods of grading based on the race of each student, rejection of their unifying human attributes and speaking in a less formal way to emphasize their position as the tyrannical hegemony. “Theme for English B” and “The …show more content…
The narrator writes about how he and the professor equate to each other, “You are white— / yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. / That 's American. / Sometimes perhaps you don 't want to be a part of me. / Nor often do I want to be a part of you. / But we are that 's true!”(Hughes 31-36). The use of the term American relates to how Americans exist as a conglomeration of immigrants and expelled foreigners.The narrator wants his professor to judge every person 's paper as an American without racial bias. The narrator describes how white people should see him as a fellow American, not a black person by describing human attributes that he exhibits on his life, “I like to eat, sleep, drink and be in love./ I like to work, read and understand life. I like a pipe for a Christmas present, or records—Bessie, bop, or Bach. I guess being colored doesn 't make me not like the same things as the other races”(Hughes 21-26). The narrator mentions his ability to perform these essential actions for human existence to emphasize his undeniable humanity, blocked by the color of his skin. Mistreatment …show more content…
As a white man interrupts the main character after misspeaking the term ‘Social Responsibility’ with ‘Social Equality, ' the white man responds with “ ‘You weren 't being smart, were you boy?’ He said, not kindly. ‘No, sir!’ ‘You sure that about ‘equality’ was a mistake?’ ”(Ellison 2360). This quote demonstrates the idea that blacks must act formal towards the white people because the powerful hegemonic men have the power to determine the future of the subaltern. The white man’s usage of informality and the black’s requirement of the usage of formality represent the relationship between slave and slave owner, as if blacks make no progress toward equality at all after the end of slavery. The white people in the text and the text itself, mention the white people as men and the colored people as boys, “The men kept yelling, ‘Slug him, black boy! Knock his guts out!’ ‘Uppercut him! Kill him! Kill that big black boy!’ Taking a fall, I saw a boy” (Ellison 2356). The white people constantly command the colored people around because, as the subaltern, white people impose upon the colored people, the subaltern, their culture, environment and expectations. When the men finally give the black people their money, the white people continue to treat the black people as slaves, “ ‘Pick it up, goddamnit, pick it up!’ someone called like a bass-voiced
Although the titles of Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B” and Ralph Ellison’s “The Battle Royal” differ completely, they both intend to display African Americans as the subaltern and whites as the hegemony. The subaltern being a group or groups of people, who the hegemony imposes upon and the hegemony being the imposer of its own culture, environment and expectations upon the subaltern. In “Battle Royal” and “Theme for English B,” the hegemony imposes upon the subaltern by using different methods of grading based on the race of each student, rejection of their unifying human attributes and speaking in a less formal way to emphasize their position as the tyrannical hegemony. “Theme for English B” and “The …show more content…
The narrator writes about how he and the professor equate to each other, “You are white— / yet a part of me, as I am a part of you. / That 's American. / Sometimes perhaps you don 't want to be a part of me. / Nor often do I want to be a part of you. / But we are that 's true!”(Hughes 31-36). The use of the term American relates to how Americans exist as a conglomeration of immigrants and expelled foreigners.The narrator wants his professor to judge every person 's paper as an American without racial bias. The narrator describes how white people should see him as a fellow American, not a black person by describing human attributes that he exhibits on his life, “I like to eat, sleep, drink and be in love./ I like to work, read and understand life. I like a pipe for a Christmas present, or records—Bessie, bop, or Bach. I guess being colored doesn 't make me not like the same things as the other races”(Hughes 21-26). The narrator mentions his ability to perform these essential actions for human existence to emphasize his undeniable humanity, blocked by the color of his skin. Mistreatment …show more content…
As a white man interrupts the main character after misspeaking the term ‘Social Responsibility’ with ‘Social Equality, ' the white man responds with “ ‘You weren 't being smart, were you boy?’ He said, not kindly. ‘No, sir!’ ‘You sure that about ‘equality’ was a mistake?’ ”(Ellison 2360). This quote demonstrates the idea that blacks must act formal towards the white people because the powerful hegemonic men have the power to determine the future of the subaltern. The white man’s usage of informality and the black’s requirement of the usage of formality represent the relationship between slave and slave owner, as if blacks make no progress toward equality at all after the end of slavery. The white people in the text and the text itself, mention the white people as men and the colored people as boys, “The men kept yelling, ‘Slug him, black boy! Knock his guts out!’ ‘Uppercut him! Kill him! Kill that big black boy!’ Taking a fall, I saw a boy” (Ellison 2356). The white people constantly command the colored people around because, as the subaltern, white people impose upon the colored people, the subaltern, their culture, environment and expectations. When the men finally give the black people their money, the white people continue to treat the black people as slaves, “ ‘Pick it up, goddamnit, pick it up!’ someone called like a bass-voiced