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Of The Coming of John© Nichel Anderson
Jul 31, 2004
What bring they 'neath the midnight,
Beside the River-sea?
They bring the human heart wherein
No nightly calm can be;
Tdroppethpeth never with the wind,
driethrieth with the dew;
O calm it,thyd; thy calm is broad
To cover spirits too.
Thfloweth floweth on.
MRS. BROWNING.
Du Bois entertains his loyal readers of the literary story of John; the young man that brought a new insight towards the many challenges for people of color. Du Bois takes a moment to expose his creative side to present the issues related to social/political. Du Bois provides us a warm and passionate tale of John; the main character of the essay living in a small rural southern town. Du Bois masterfully demonstrates John as the centerpiece of the essay that showcases what the main issues were during that time period.
W.E.B. Du Bois presents the meaning of progressing in a country that has so many restrictions for people of color. Du Bois brings back the times of the deep south during the 19th century and the plight of the Negroes in America. He details this tale in "Of The Coming of John" to reflect the many players of the southern neighborhood that create a family trying to understand and manage their lives living in a difficult era.
Altamaha us from Altamaha, away down there beneath the gnarled oaks of Southeastern Georgia, where the sea croons to the sands and the sands listen till they sink half drowned beneath the waters, rising only here and there in long, low islands. TAltamaha folk of Altamaha voted John a good boy,-fine plough-hand, good in the rice-fields, handy everywhere, and always good-natured and respectful. But they shook their heads when his mother wanted to send him to school. "It'll spoil him,-ruin him," they said; and they talked as though they knew. But full half the black folk followed him proudly to the station, and carried his queer little trunk and many bundles. And there they shook and shook hands, and the girls kissed him shyly and the boys clapped him on the back. So the train came, and he pinched his little sister lovingly, and put his great arms about his mother's neck, and then was away with a puff and a roar into the great yellow world that flamed and flared about the doubtful pilgrim.
Du Bois describes John as the new hope, and the folks of the town see John as the new tastes of freedom. The joy of something new arriving in town with knowledge of a different experience than their own. The town folks want to aspire to the same joys that John experienced. Du Bois further takes us back to the trying times during the turn of the century in the "Of the Coming of John" to a Du Bois hallow place. Du Bois forces the reader to feel as the neighbors of John's town on just how life had changed since John left.
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In response to message posted by Sunbear:
Hi Tom, I am really pleased that you enjoyed my essay and my love for Du Bois ...
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Hi Nichel,I always enjoy your articles on DuBois. I admire his passion in this one. I see the poet in those wonderful descriptions which I admire so much. Certainly, he was man who took a de ...
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