Analysis Of Claudia Rankine's Utilization Of The Word 'You'

Claudia Rankine’s utilization of the word “you” creates a sense of inclusion and a tone of subtle anger and dread. Rankine projects the experiences of black people onto the reader. The inclusion of the word “you” shapes the experience of the reader significantly by making the reader delve deeper into the experiences discussed in Citizen. The presence of the word “you” is particularly note-worthy in pages 69-79. In these pages, “you” manifests experiences and thoughts for the reader. The closeness of Rankine’s text is somewhat claustrophobic and tense, but it pulls at the reader’s sympathies and creates scenarios through text and image that stir the reader into deeper thought. The utilization of “you” impacts the tone, action, and perception …show more content…
Rankine creates a sense of personal closeness and dialogue by using “you” as she does. Rankine changes the action on page 71 by turning the discussion from “I” to “you.” She says “You said ‘I’ has so much power; it’s insane” (71). Rankine alludes to this past dialogue as if the reader was her companion. She follows this line shortly after with “Shit, you are reading minds, but did you try?” The tone of the action shifts from somewhat voyeuristic to personal and contemplative. Then the tone shifts to slightly nostalgic and mournful in the line “You really did. Everyone understood you to be suffering and still everyone thought you thought you were the sun—“ (71). This line’s power comes from the close proximity of the text to the reader. Even if the reader has never themselves experienced racial discrimination, the line imparts onto the reader some of the same emotions from this experience: mourning, anger, and a sense of unfair failure. The reader sympathizes for those who have suffered this injustice. Rankine’s ability to pass all of these thoughts and feelings onto the reader is uncanny. She again shifts the action and feelings of the text onto the reader on page 73 in the line “If you need to feel that way—still you are here and here is nowhere.” This sudden existential shift causes the reader to feel as if they themselves are truly …show more content…
This can be seen on page 75 in the line “[…]and you were bloodshot and again the day carried you across a field of hours, deep into dawn, back to now, where you are thankful for what faces you.” This is more powerful than using first-person because it pulls the reader into the text. The reader relates to being dragged across a day and having something to anticipate. However, this passage also leaves the reader with questions: what faces me? Where is now? These are questions that the reader must contemplate and study the text to solve. Another instance where Rankine alters the reader’s perception of the text is on page 77 when she tells the story of being cut off in line at the drugstore. One can almost feel the stranger’s words hitting them; “Oh my God, I didn’t see you.[…] No, no, no, I really didn’t see you.” To be ignored or overlooked is a feeling that Rankine imparts onto the reader. The reader feels slightly embarrassed after this encounter and also wonders how someone can ignore an entire person. Rankine presents the answer to the latter question in the grand theme of her work: racial discrimination. Finally, Rankine closes this section of her book by altering the reader’s perception of themselves in the narrative of racial discrimination. Perhaps the most poignant line in this section is “Appetite won’t attach you to anything no matter how depleted you feel.