On Being Brought From Africa To America By Phillis Wheatley Analysis

Our world as we know fascinating, multifaceted, and cultured because of the literary aura that has been present throughout mankind. Just like the people that fill our world, some literature is hurtful, some is beneficial to certain groups and cultures, and some is for pure entertainment. However, the great thing about it is that literature has the ability to connect any form of art through the past and present. Literature has no age and therefore can speak to generations and help enlighten future leaders of communities. No matter the topic, there is always a way to connect the piece of literature, whether that be song, poem, or script, to the conditions of society. In the culture of African Americans, this idea of literature being a centerpiece …show more content…
Wheatley was able to speak her mind in a time where her mind was not supposed to be spoken, and she did this by using talents of hidden messages and a conveying aptitude of poetry. In many of her works, she was able to master a didactic tone in order to bring light to a topic of confusion for the majority of the community, and the community most certainly needed to see this topic more clearly. In her poem, “On Being Brought From Africa to America” Wheatley is able to uncover a flaw in the American society at the time by saying, “Remember, Christians , Negros , black as Cain , May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train”. The use of the word “remember” implies a didactic tone that she uses purposefully for her audience to realize the mis-teachings of Christianity at the time. She plays it out so her audience would ask about why whites have more of an ability to seek out the gift of Christ than blacks do. Now, over the course of hundreds of years, world leaders in the African American community today have borrowed Wheatley’s didactic technique to help peacefully persuade the message of black lives having the same meaning and importance as white lives. The controversy today has a lot to do with why the phrase “All Lives Matter” does not carry an equal message, and that people get offended when “Black Lives Matter” signs and speeches are permeated through society because it leaves out the rest of the population. However, the progressive, forward-looking leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement use “black” instead of “all” because of the didactic tone involved, which draws comparisons to Wheatley’s style. Imagine there is a classroom full of students, and only one student in the class is doing poorly. So, the teacher does not just ignore that one student, the teacher helps the student improve and succeed like the rest of the class. In this