Claudia Rankine

While there are many fascinating aspects of Claudia Rankine’s book, the one that struck me the most throughout this class was the unique way in which the reader interacts with Citizen. Rankine redefines the concept of being able to put yourself in the shoes of the characters and live out the story yourself from the couch. However, in the scenarios created by Claudia, it is a different kind of drama the reader is immersed in: rather than a story of romantic tension or action-filled suspense, the audience views a strange and frightening world, full of people who hate and fight and insult each other for no legitimate reason: it is our world, with a different perspective than what is usually taken by those so blissfully unaware of what it is to be discriminated against.
Not only is the novel intriguing and engaging because of content, it is also because of its utilization of second-person point of view, which allows the reader to further immerse themselves in the tellings of the situations, as it becomes possible for the audience to become the person being discriminated against, and to be a part of the situation, rather than a neutral bystander. Through second-person, the emotions felt while reading become more passionate, and thus the novel has more effect on the thoughts of the reader as they analyze daily life through a new lens. …show more content…
It's very close to the loss of your life. It's very close to the loss of your liberties at any random moment. And so I wanted that to be considered (NPR).” To live like this must be absolutely horrible, and Claudia does a fantastic job of showing the reader just how shocking and uncomfortable day to day life can be, with the constant threat of microaggressions and outright racism hanging over one’s