The Comet By W. E. B. Dubois Analysis

One work that is difficult is The Comet by W.E.B. Du Bois. This work is difficult because the story features an African-American man being the hero. When W.E.B. Du Bois wrote this, white people were always the main characters and heroes in stories. For example, in The Comet, “She stared at him. Of all the sorts of men she had pictured as coming to her rescue she had not dreamed of one like him” (McMichael 1111-1112). A white woman was in need of rescue, and she did not imagine that an African-American man would save her. Du Bois’s intended the difficulty in his story because he wanted to fight for racial equality, equal treatment for all, and racial discrimination to end. He made an African-American a hero in his story and wrote it during difficult times where there was racial inequality, …show more content…
‘And your people were not my people,’ she said; ‘but today---’ She paused. He was a man,--no more; but he was in some larger sense a gentleman,--- sensitive, kindly, chivalrous, everything save his hand and-- his face. Yet yesterday---” (McMichael 1115). The white woman says African-Americans were not her people. However, she realizes that today is different because today he is someone else, a gentleman, but his hands and face are still black. She realizes that yesterday was different from today, and him and her coming together as different races is changing history and the world. I believe this difficulty is necessary because these difficult times of African-Americans facing discrimination, inequality, and more racial problems needed change in the form of writing by making an African-American man a hero. Thus, Du Bois wanted to change who the hero was, and this was necessary because small changes needed to start before a big change could happen like breaking down the barriers of racial inequality and discrimination. Du Bois started those small changes in his writing, The Comet, and they eventually changed into big