Autobiography Of Ex-Colored Man

This piece is a good addition to the the collection of writings that it is a part of because it provides a narrative on a topic and point of view that so far has not been featured as much in the anthology. This excerpt from a novel, An Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, is the documentation of a man, who is able to pass as a white man, traveling throughout the South. The main theme of the piece is the experience that the speaker has during his time in the south, from attending the “big meeting” to witnessing a lynching. Both of those events tie into his continued debate over which race he should identify with. The author uses the narrative structure and a straightforward tone as well as contrasting events to show how the speaker is working …show more content…
The excerpt is structured as a narrative story that has a detached and straightforward tone. The speaker is not participating in either of the main events of the story so he is an observer and his notes on the events make him sound removed from each, almost completely objective though there are parts where he includes the emotional impact the events had on him. The tone seems indifferent because he is mainly telling his experience but does not look to take a stand about an issue or attempt to persuade the reader to think a certain way until the last two paragraphs. [examples] for indifferent tone (find another word). In the last two paragraphs, the speaker switches to a more urgent tone, saying how he basically does not want to be defined by any …show more content…
The big meeting is where many churches of one denomination come together in one church for a week of socializing and worship. The speaker gives detailed descriptions about the “two [main] attractions”, a preacher named John Brown and a singer known as Singing Johnson (125). John Brown is described as the “most powerful speaker for miles around” and the speaker is impressed with his ability to appeal to the crowd. He describes Brown of having all the qualities of a great speaker, everything from his voice to the “magnetism and imagination” that Brown possessed with the “heavenly march”. That exemplified the unity within the congregation when they all followed and halted when told. The speaker describes the event and the preacher, yet also notes how the preacher even made him feel “like joining in the shouts of Amen! Hallelujah!” even though the speaker describes himself as “more or less sophisticated and non-religious” (127). Describing himself here draws on the idea that not only does the speaker look to be disconnected or removed from the event but he also feels that he is better than the people participating in the big meeting, which is also shown in the next sentence where he says “the preacher’s words... glowing with the eloquence of primitive poetry” (127). It does not seem to be that he looks down on the congregation but does have a sense of sophistication that he believes they do not possess. He makes that