An Analysis Of Between The World And Me

To his only son and every person of color, Ta-Nehisi Coates pens an open letter within the pages of Between the World and Me. Reliving a year full of tragedy found in 2015 and remembering a lifetime of pain, Coates offers to his readers through vivid storytelling, an almost entirely pessimistic perspective of life in a black body. The strength of black bodies is often circumvented by the frailty projected onto them by those with “the need to be white.” In the gaps of Coates’s pessimism is an abounding hope he cherishes for his son and others. This hope is not unlike the hope a parent has for their child to live a life better than they did but is better characterized and akin to the euphoric hope of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. We journey with Coates from his youthful disquieted days in West Baltimore to his more comfortable life now in New York. Each moment of this journey plays a critical role in the shaping of Coates’s character and disposition. Additionally, this journey serves as a sketch of Coates’s absence of faith in God. Read through the lens of a young African American, Coates’s words served to be a wake-up call without a call to action. Coates repeatedly recalls the authors and thinkers, as well as, influencers who …show more content…
Repeatedly, he finds his way back to the theme of love. Amidst the struggle that Coates notes, is his discovery of community, solidarity, and love. Coates mentions finding these gems many times in Between the World and Me. Most apparent is the love he has for his son, stating, "There was before you, and there was after, and in this after, you were the God I 'd never had.” Other places he recalls moments when people, with whom he shares no familial connection, extended themselves for his well- being. Although it is likely unintentional, Coates in this manner has some reflections of the good news proclaimed by Jesus as it concerns the kingdom of