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Birmingham Jail Chapter 6

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Chapter VI: Why does the narrator leave Jacksonville for New York? What does he do during his first night in New York? With what result? How does he respond to hearing ragtime music for the first time?
a. The narrator leaves Jacksonville for New York because the cigar factory that he was working in shut down permanently. Instead of getting a job at a different factory in town, the narrator decided to join some other works and go to New York for work. On his first night in New York, he starts out at a house that has been converted into a bar. He plays at a craps table and finds out that he is actually really good. Later on in the night they go to a place called the Club. The music within the club is ragtime and it resignated with the narrator. …show more content…

The club is a three story home that has a Chop Suey restaurant in the basement. It was a really nice parlor, with pictures covering the walls and no gambling allowed. The Club was a place that performers could come to. There was something a bit unusual about the Club. It was a place where both blacks and white come to. The narrator states that some people come to research how African Americans act therefore they can perfect their “dark characters”.
Chapter VIII: What was the narrator’s dark time? How did he escape it? What do you think the narrator provides “the millionaire” that makes “the millionaire” want to have the narrator around so much?
a. The narrator’s dark time starts after he takes a job rolling cigars. He spends his nights gambling away and he spends most of his time at the Club. He becomes obsessed with winning, whether he has money or not. This is the dark time for narrator. However, during this time, the narrator actually perfects the art of ragtime and begins entertaining the crowds at the club. His obsession with gambling gets out of control until one day a millionaire walks into the club and befriends the narrator. They become close friends and the millionaire encourages the narrator to take up music rather than gambling. This is part of the reason he steps away from the dark time. However, the most predominant escape for the narrator is his journey to Europe with the millionaire. I think the millionaire sees something spectacular in the narrator. His …show more content…

I think because the Texan believes he will always be right is the reason that he remains committed rather than answer the Colonel’s questions. He believes that the Anglo-Saxon race will always be superior. This could also be because the way he was raised meaning he knows no different. He is encouraged because he is so passionate about his topic. The narrator wants to become that passionate about something. The narrator was extremely inspired by the big meeting. Because all of these individuals were so enthralled by the songs in the Church, that they made the narrator want to be that marvelous at song production. He is a bit uncomfortable at the idea of them singing slave songs but is later inspired by the meeting. The narrator witnesses a black man being burned alive. He is humiliated by this event because he is a part of a race that becomes such a victim to the horrific crimes and actions that are made against them. I do believe that the narrator was right to return to New York. I believe that he was better off there. He was able to make a life for himself and his future family. Although it is not as valiant as perhaps standing up for your race or starting a movement, he did what was right for his

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