Analysis Of ' Between The World And Me '

There have been many novels written about the experience of being born black in America but only so few have been able to give the reader a vivid point of view of what African Americans have gone through for generations. The book “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a very sympathetic letter to his fifth teen year old son Samori. Coates explains his experiences in the past on how being born into the world as a “Black Body” is considered as a disadvantage in America. Coates grew up with strict parents that were consistently keeping a keen eye on him always having his father constantly beating him and an always anxious mother. But as he grew older and had a son of his own he then realized the reasons behind his parent’s actions.

In Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me, Coates seeks to educate his young son and in turn the reader of his experience as an African American man in the United States. In this, racism becomes a very prominent and complex theme. In some way racism impacted every facet of his life. The novel highlights the drastic difference in the ability for curiosity and personal development and questioning in his public education in a poor area versus his continued education at Howard University a historically black private college. What was the main cause of these extremely different experiences, socioeconomics, institutional culture, educational style?

One moment of which was quite traumatizing for him in my opinion—when Prince Carmen Jones was murdered by PG County police. During this time, Coates had no idea who the man was until he saw his photo in the paper. He grew angry and explained that, “What I remember for sure is what I felt: rage” (77). Though he was angry, he did not do anything about it because he had to keep his families safety in mind. Throughout his life he witnessed and understood that black lives were easily taken, which caused him to from fear no matter where he went. For instance, a family trip took him to France where he met and befriended a Frenchman. They decided to learn from each other when it came to the native languages that each spoke, while going out to eat. All the while Coates could not stay calm, for he feared the worst because the worst—being beaten and/or killed by the hands of another person—is what he has come to know. Coates’ new acquaintance wanted to show him a building after they ate but, he was anxious and worried that this man had a hidden agenda. When talking about the journey to said building Coates explained to his son that, “The entire time he was leading me, I was sure he was going to make a quick turn into an alley, where some dudes would be waiting” (126). He was full of fear throughout the duration of meeting with this man because of the things that he learned and witnessed in Baltimore—many unnecessary deaths by policeman (who were not charged with the crime that they committed) and the overall ill treatment of people of

Coates provides readers with a lesson in American history and explains to his son that race is not reality, but that “Americans believe in the reality of ‘race’ as a defined, indubitable feature of the natural world” (Coates 2015; 7) He brings the reader inside the America in which he lives. He argues that “America’s problem is not its betrayal of ‘government of the people,’ but the means by which ‘the people’ acquired their names,” meaning that America has only ever represented and supported white people, that America was founded on a system of racial bias (6). He draws attention to the struggles that peoples of color, especially black people, have faced. Those struggles generate fear, which is one of the main ideas in the

“Last Sunday the host of a popular news show asked me what it meant to lose my body”(Coates 5). The phrase “lose my body” is reiterated numerous times in Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. The topic/theme of this piece of literature may be discernable as innocence as Ta-Nehisi profusely speaks of how his upbringing changed and affected his perspective on life. Coates uses a multitude of examples to portray this from how he witnessed another boy almost being shot at a young age to him learning and understanding the laws and “culture of the streets”(Coates 24) as who and even more who not to mess with(Coates 23). Coates effectively uses these examples as perfect representations of living in an American ghetto as well as how since birth blacks do not “own” their body and are susceptible to lose it.

Between the World and Me has been called a book about race, but the author argues that race itself is a flawed, if anything, nothing more than a pretext for racism. Early in the book he writes, “Race, is the child of racism, not the father.” The idea of race has been so important in the history of America and in the self-identification of its people and racial designations have literally marked the difference between life and death in some instances. How does discrediting the idea of race as an immutable, unchangeable fact changes the way we look at our history? Ourselves? In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and the current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me has been compared favorably with James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. The book begins with a letter to his nephew which Coats mimics in writing to his son. Themes of ‘Bodies’ related to racial identity, the experience of being black in America, and how to break down racial barriers are very prominent in both books however they vary slightly.

Between the World and Me written by Ta-Nehish Coates is a compelling book about the white supremacy in America and how hard it is being black in America. Coates using this book as a measure to discuss the issues of race within this critical time of multiple hostile incidents. Just as James Baldwin did in his book The Fire Next Time, with his letter address to his nephew at the height of the civil rights movement, Coates models after his method. Coats and Baldwin write these books as guides during these critical moments in history not to aspire to any larger themes of overcoming or transcending “race” as a way to defeat racism but about the ways of survival and remembering. Coates is a realist who yet still find the beauty within the unequal disparities in America. How it is so apparent to see the devalue of black American live. Through out this novel Coasts examines the deeper meaning and values of black bodies he brings it together by describing his own personal experiences as a child in Baltimore, as a student as Howard, as a writer, and importantly as a parent. All these experience allow Coates to see the large overview of America’s history of brutality to black bodies, and the invention of race as form of social hierarchy. Coats uses of the quote “they made us a race, we made ourselves the people” he wants us to understand that while whites created the race for black as a social hierarchy with them as the dominant race, although he feels they are truly

Between the World and Me is a long letter that Ta-Nehisi Coates writes to his teenage son, Samori. Coates uses history and past experiences to express to his son how America does not value the black man’s body. Coates starts by telling of what it was like for him growing up in Baltimore. How he saw black men dress and carry themselves in attempts to possess themselves and power. He then talks about the awakening of his black consciousness at Howard University. Howard is where he first started learning about the contributions of black people in American history. He also was introduced to a variety of different types of black people. Howard is also where Coates experienced the death of a close friend, Prince Jones, that catapults the most powerful message in his novel; The American Dream is an insidious idea glorified by whites and the media that was built on the marginalization of black people.

Between the World and Me examines the history and present circumstances of racial inequality and segregation in America. Coates directs the book to Samori to give his audience personal insight into the various stages of a black man’s life. From his childhood, to his college experience, to his complicated role as a father, Coates gradually unfolds a critical account of the relationship between black and white communities. He calls those who “believe themselves to be white” the “Dreamers” and criticizes them for the indifference toward black people 's experiences. He wants the audience to reflect upon themselves and realize that they are part of the problem.

The first thing that struck me about Ta-nehisi Coates “Between the World and Me”, and stuck with me throughout my time reading was his unapologetic hopelessness. Not hopelessness in that racism will always exist, but rather hopelessness in that American mindset that it is a country built on freedom and the belief in a government run by and for “the people”, and will naturally progress on its own. He focuses specifically on the last bit of that mindset, his many encounters with the “Dreamers” who share this mindset causing him to reflect on the country’s lack of self awareness. Coates message is one of realization. that it is the very people who drag us down that must realize for themselves what they are doing is wrong and a crime against nature, rather than natural, and stop it for themselves.

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a personal narrative and reflection that is dedicated to Coates’s son. It is intended to be used as a warning about the struggles of living as a black man in America. Coates paints a picture of his life experiences through various stories shared. The book discusses many relevant issues of today’s society and has many important messages.

Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is an empowering and uplifting novel that I am able to relate and take wisdom away from because I have been through similar situations that have helped me gain my own personal perspectives.

After reading Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, I felt that the most powerful message in the book was Coates’ assertion that African Americans are striving for the “Dream” which is in fact unreachable. The “Dream” is supposed to be the desire of people to live in a big house with a white picket fence and a big yard, however because it was built on the backs of black people, literally, it is not something that is a realistic goal or a realistic dream. Coates wants his son to realize that America has been built on the marginalization of black people and other minorities and that because of this, it is not a place which will allow races that white people have deemed as “lesser” to prosper. The first major takeaway that I got from reading

Rosa Parks once said, “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully we shall overcome.” Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Coates writes a letter to his son explaining what his life was like growing up in America as an African American man, and he also tries to give his son some moral advice on how to take charge of living as a man in a black body. Spike Lee directs a film on Malcolm X, who was a black activist and a leader of the struggle for black freedom. Both the book and film discuss slavery, civil rights, and police brutality. Coates and Malcolm X advocate that the malicious history of slavery has contributed to the shaping of modern day racism in America.