Theme Of Between The World And Me

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, is a father’s letter to his son. He attempts to answer the questions “what is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it and find a way to live within it?” (Coates) He tells his son his experiences that helped him open up to see what his place in the world is. The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader about Ta-Nehisi Coates’ novel Between the World and Me. Coates starts off the first part of the book by telling his son about an experience he had with an interviewer who asked him “what it meant to lose my body?”. He then tells his son that the real meaning behind this question is the interviewer wanted to know why he believes that white American success was built on …show more content…
One of the major themes is the danger that comes out of being a black man in America. This is the main theme throughout the novel. He uses countless examples to prove this. He talks about his life growing up and how he was always in fear. He touches on the fact that blacks are the most suspected, the most arrested, the most incarcerated, and the most murdered demographics in America. This theme is one of the reasons he wrote this. He wanted to bring attention to an issue that needs all the attention it can get so it can hopefully one day be resolved. He also wrote this as a letter to his son so he can make sure that he can be aware of what is going on and be knowledgeable, because Coates wants what is best for his son. Another theme throughout the novel is the value of the black body. He talks about how the black body is controlled, exploited, and eventually discarded by people, which is mostly white people. White people treat blacks with disrespect so they can possibly receive economic prosperity and maintain it and so they can gain political and social status. He used the value of the black body as a theme so that he could inform his son about himself and so he can realize the struggle blacks face more in