Black and White. The oldest battle in history. One represents evil white the other represent good. In The Dictionary of Symbols, black represent “chaos,” “dissimilation,” “passivity” while white represents “activity,” “ascension,” “purity” (Cirlot,43 44 45 52 54 56). The symbols make the idea of having two options: good, evil; black, white. The concept has been seen throughout literature: Heart of Darkness, Native Guard, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Devil in Tom Walker. These pieces of literature portray good in evil through the symbolism of black in white. Heart of Darkness and Native Guard by Joseph Conrad and Natasha Trethewey, respectively, both used black and white and create the idea of their being only two forces of nature. **Through
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In HoD, Conrad describes the Africans having “faces like grotesque masks” (Conrad 14). This create the idea of african being inhumane and animal-- like. They are uncivil and evil. The depiction of them creates the idea of them being an evil force that needs to face justice. They are in the category of evil and unlikable. Conrad also describes them as being “conquered beast.” (Conrad 36). He again sees them as animals. He doesn’t think of them being as human. This depiction creates the idea of them being evil and immoral. He later says the idea of there being a suspicion of them being inhuman, meaning the idea of them being human and moral is ridiculous. They are categorized into being inhuman and that is the nature of it. In Trethewey's Native Guard, she furthers the idea of blacks being inferior to whites. In “Elegy for the Native Guard,” she describes how there is no monument to the black soldiers who fought. This shows that the blacks were forgotten and easily replaceable. They are inferior to the whites so much that they are lost in the Civil War. They have no monument to them (Trethewey 44). This lack of monument and poem shows that black is bad. Being black makes one forgettable and replaceable. There will be no way to stand out. She furthers the idea that blacks are nothing in “Native Guard.” She describes how a black soldiers has to do “n____ work” and has “scars, crosshatched like the …show more content…
In “Incident,” Trethewey describes how “the angels had gathered, white men in their gowns” (Trethewey 41). She describes them as being angelic. With this description, she is showing how the the whites are beautiful, angelic and pure. Angels are pure, and whites being described as angels makes them pure. Their purity gives them the right to be superior. She furthers the idea of superiority in the poem “My Mother Dreams Another Country.” She describes how the “dolls winking down from every shelf-- all of them white” (Trethewey 37). Showing that all the dolls are white creates the idea of whites being the favorable race and contender. They are so superior that all the dolls are modeled after them. They are the superior beings of the blacks. They are better. Conrad continues this idea in HoD. In HoD, Conrad describes the white accountant as being “amazing and [having] a penholder behind his ear” (Conrad 18). This description shows the white man as being better. He is elegant, amazing and even rich enough to have a penholder behind his ear. He is better off than others, making him better. Furthermore, Conrad describes how “Kurtz got the tribe to follow him” (Conrad 56). This depiction shows that Kurtz is powerful enough to make others want to be with him and follow him. He makes others bend their knee to him and obey him. He is powerful enough to make a tribe want to be with him, even though he killed majority of
In HoD, Conrad describes the Africans having “faces like grotesque masks” (Conrad 14). This create the idea of african being inhumane and animal-- like. They are uncivil and evil. The depiction of them creates the idea of them being an evil force that needs to face justice. They are in the category of evil and unlikable. Conrad also describes them as being “conquered beast.” (Conrad 36). He again sees them as animals. He doesn’t think of them being as human. This depiction creates the idea of them being evil and immoral. He later says the idea of there being a suspicion of them being inhuman, meaning the idea of them being human and moral is ridiculous. They are categorized into being inhuman and that is the nature of it. In Trethewey's Native Guard, she furthers the idea of blacks being inferior to whites. In “Elegy for the Native Guard,” she describes how there is no monument to the black soldiers who fought. This shows that the blacks were forgotten and easily replaceable. They are inferior to the whites so much that they are lost in the Civil War. They have no monument to them (Trethewey 44). This lack of monument and poem shows that black is bad. Being black makes one forgettable and replaceable. There will be no way to stand out. She furthers the idea that blacks are nothing in “Native Guard.” She describes how a black soldiers has to do “n____ work” and has “scars, crosshatched like the …show more content…
In “Incident,” Trethewey describes how “the angels had gathered, white men in their gowns” (Trethewey 41). She describes them as being angelic. With this description, she is showing how the the whites are beautiful, angelic and pure. Angels are pure, and whites being described as angels makes them pure. Their purity gives them the right to be superior. She furthers the idea of superiority in the poem “My Mother Dreams Another Country.” She describes how the “dolls winking down from every shelf-- all of them white” (Trethewey 37). Showing that all the dolls are white creates the idea of whites being the favorable race and contender. They are so superior that all the dolls are modeled after them. They are the superior beings of the blacks. They are better. Conrad continues this idea in HoD. In HoD, Conrad describes the white accountant as being “amazing and [having] a penholder behind his ear” (Conrad 18). This description shows the white man as being better. He is elegant, amazing and even rich enough to have a penholder behind his ear. He is better off than others, making him better. Furthermore, Conrad describes how “Kurtz got the tribe to follow him” (Conrad 56). This depiction shows that Kurtz is powerful enough to make others want to be with him and follow him. He makes others bend their knee to him and obey him. He is powerful enough to make a tribe want to be with him, even though he killed majority of