In River Hymns, specifically “Dirt Cakes” and “Southern Silence,” Tyree Daye depicts Youngsville as a small, rural, white majority with racial divisions -- racism. He has a place in the town amongst all of the problems, along with family and friends. The adults in the family have to let loose and forget what has happened throughout the week with drinking and dancing. This shows the backgrowling work that they are forced into and in a bad working environment. He writes in a way that is not happy or joyous, but in a gloomy and dark way. He adds symbols and lots of description into the poems. At first, he feels like he has a place in the town and quickly realizes that through moving and thinking back has moved on and away from the community that the town used to have. Through the usage of symbols and description, he explores the racial divide that his small town in rural North Carolina contains.
Youngsville is a small town that contains racial discrimination. It has made the African-Americans in the town have a feeling of disillusionment and distrust amongst the African-American minority. Daye depicts it as a town with almost no white people that can be trusted when he says, “I’ve only trusted/four white people in my life” (“Southern Silence,” lines 1-2). He could have said that he trusted four white …show more content…
His mother earlier said dirt is where people are buried, and his grandmother now lies in the dirt. “My Grandmother’s body/lives under the ash tree/…, her spirit/can be seen making/a maple tree’s shadow jealous” (“Dirt Cakes,” lines 1-2). The difference in skin color in this community has created a divide, and just this quote shows one tree feels “jealous” over the other tree; an ash tree is generally darker brown while a maple tree has a pale and off-white color. As shown above, these qualities are symbols of the racial climate in the town Daye used to live
Youngsville is a small town that contains racial discrimination. It has made the African-Americans in the town have a feeling of disillusionment and distrust amongst the African-American minority. Daye depicts it as a town with almost no white people that can be trusted when he says, “I’ve only trusted/four white people in my life” (“Southern Silence,” lines 1-2). He could have said that he trusted four white …show more content…
His mother earlier said dirt is where people are buried, and his grandmother now lies in the dirt. “My Grandmother’s body/lives under the ash tree/…, her spirit/can be seen making/a maple tree’s shadow jealous” (“Dirt Cakes,” lines 1-2). The difference in skin color in this community has created a divide, and just this quote shows one tree feels “jealous” over the other tree; an ash tree is generally darker brown while a maple tree has a pale and off-white color. As shown above, these qualities are symbols of the racial climate in the town Daye used to live