Escaping the Lower Class by Use of Formal Education Vs. Musical Talent
In the fictional narrative, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson, Johnson depicts an African American man that studies music which eventually leads him out of the gambling world. Similarly, in Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington, speaks to the same pursuit that we see in Johnson’s piece, as an African American man uses formal education in order to escape the lower working class. While Washington and Johnson both ruthlessly pursue knowledge that lead them to escape the lower class and meet significant people in their lives, Johnson is able to make more impactful relationships with white people, along the way, because his music more easily cut …show more content…
As a child Washington is perplexed by the figures on the barrels in the salt mines, “At the close of the day’s work the boss of the packers would come around and put “18” on each of our barrels, and I soon learned to recognize that figure wherever I saw it” (559). Washington’s innate characteristic of curiosity drives him to challenge himself to figure out the world around him. Similarly, at a very young age, Johnson also realizes this characteristic in himself, “When I was seven years old, I could play by ear all of the hymns and songs that my mother knew. I had also learned the names of the notes in both clefs” (795). Both Johnson and Washington share the interest of knowledge at a very young age, and both share a love for their academic pursuits. Johnson depicts a memory of his mother playing piano at night for him, “Those evenings on which she opened the little piano were the happiest hours of my childhood” (795). Likewise, Washington describes his feelings in relation to joining a potential day school, “my boyish heart was still set upon going to the day-school” (560-561). Both narrators relate to their keen adoration of their pursuits as a child. Washington and Johnson did not stop at persistently pursuing an education in their day to day lives, they also studied the individuals in their
In the fictional narrative, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson, Johnson depicts an African American man that studies music which eventually leads him out of the gambling world. Similarly, in Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington, speaks to the same pursuit that we see in Johnson’s piece, as an African American man uses formal education in order to escape the lower working class. While Washington and Johnson both ruthlessly pursue knowledge that lead them to escape the lower class and meet significant people in their lives, Johnson is able to make more impactful relationships with white people, along the way, because his music more easily cut …show more content…
As a child Washington is perplexed by the figures on the barrels in the salt mines, “At the close of the day’s work the boss of the packers would come around and put “18” on each of our barrels, and I soon learned to recognize that figure wherever I saw it” (559). Washington’s innate characteristic of curiosity drives him to challenge himself to figure out the world around him. Similarly, at a very young age, Johnson also realizes this characteristic in himself, “When I was seven years old, I could play by ear all of the hymns and songs that my mother knew. I had also learned the names of the notes in both clefs” (795). Both Johnson and Washington share the interest of knowledge at a very young age, and both share a love for their academic pursuits. Johnson depicts a memory of his mother playing piano at night for him, “Those evenings on which she opened the little piano were the happiest hours of my childhood” (795). Likewise, Washington describes his feelings in relation to joining a potential day school, “my boyish heart was still set upon going to the day-school” (560-561). Both narrators relate to their keen adoration of their pursuits as a child. Washington and Johnson did not stop at persistently pursuing an education in their day to day lives, they also studied the individuals in their