Symbolism In 'Strange Fruit By Abel Meeropol And The Flowers'

Within the song “Strange Fruit” the following lines in particular stand out: “Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh/ Then the sudden smell of burning flesh,” (Holiday 7-8). In these lines Holiday revels the darkness of what is happening and with doing this sends the message that while the monstrous deeds of the south are covered up they are still there and still pungent. Alike to this song, Beneatha through her past can see the discrimination that others hold against her before it is publicly made known and stands up to those who do this by bringing them to light. An example of this can be seen through the following

Strange Fruit is extremely valuable today and especially in the 1930’s. The 1930’s was a rough time for society. No one should have to live through the deaths of innocent humans but unfortunately that happened in the past and still happens today in different forms. Strange Fruit was the first controversial song that ever spoke out about the cruelty of the lynching of African Americans. It gained attention throughout the years of Holiday performing it, which gives it tremendous value. The sadness and disturbing imagery portrayed in the song, gave it a positive effect considering it gained support towards the Civil Rights Movement. The song sends out a clear message in an unusual way. Painting a disturbing picture into the listener’s mind through words makes the person perceive the message to be to end lynching. “Strange fruit hanging from the poplar tree” (line 4). The strange fruit is a black person being hanged from the tree. That is a deep message that was made to get into everyone’s head to push for a change in the unfair society.

In analyzing both essays, Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance by Bell Hooks and There Is No Unmarked Woman by Deborah Tannen the authors address societal problems that highlight and emphasize the differences that certain groups in society must face and overcome, although the targets in both of the examples of societal dilemma between the two are very different, they both accurately represent how unjust the modern social structure is.

The speaker’s change in attitude and evolvement of emotions depict the enduring effects of prejudice and societal boundaries on the speaker. Unable to rise past the class system, the speaker remains on the outskirts of city limits, picking berries. Losing his enjoyment of picking berries, the speaker comes to a new realization about the cold side of reality, and consequently, when the speaker gives up his child-like view of the world and the sweetness of nature, he receives pain, the stinging thorns of

One of the most pervasive themes in this passage is that of a spreading decay that is taking over the society. This is first expressed in quite a literal sense, as an actual decay of fruit and produce, which spreads like a virus across the American countryside and farming lands. Due to the economic mismanagement of the farming industry, fruit and other produce are left to rot and decay on the trees because they are not picked by the farmers. The text gives many examples of different fruits being left to decay on the farms. We see, for example, the cherries, that are described at first as “full and sweet”, being left to turn into seeds which “drop and dry with black shreds hanging from them”. The purple prunes, which now “carpet the

The narrator's vision of her ancestors expanding a plentiful life is emphasized with the picturesque “blue fields…with leaves and vines and orchards.” This then strikes the narrator with the realization that cutting down the tree would be a betrayal to their ancestors, their dreams and the demise of the heritage of the

Throughout the novel many problems occur. Some of the main problems are racial and equality issues. Events in this book show how prejudice and intolerance can ruin numerous friendships and change lives.

The poem describes the weather and its effect on cotton flower by pointing out the dying branches and vanishing cotton. The image of insufficiency, struggle and death parallel the oppression of African American race. The beginning of the poem illustrates the struggle and suffering of the cotton flower; which represent the misery of African Americans and also gives an idea that there is no hope for them. But at the end the speaker says “brown eyes that loves without a trace of fear/ Beauty so sudden for that time of year” (lines 13-14). This shows the rise of the African American race, and their fight against racism. The author used mood, tone and

The lyrics of the song have contains a handful of imagery describing African Americans being lynched. For example, “Blood on the leaves and blood on the root”, is a very descriptive example and puts an image in your mind of seeing a tree with African Americans hanging with blood dripping from their bodies (genius.com). This line makes it seem like the blood that is dripping from the people hanging is feeding the tree’s root, and this could symbolize growth because America was a growing country back then and still is today. Back then, African Americans were physically and mentally abused, and the point of the song was to put an end to that and it did eventually. Today, African Americans are still being discriminated for job opportunities because of stereotypes people made that make African Americans look bad. Throughout the course of time, we did make changes, which relates to the line, “Blood on the leaves and blood on the root”. Another line the depicts a very cruel image is, “Here is fruit for crows to pluck” (genius.com) This line has a very dark meaning and image because crows always symbolize evil and darkness. The fact that this line puts a picture of bodies being devoured by crows in your mind, proves that Holiday uses very strong imagery in the context of Strange Fruit. From these two lines from the song, we learned that

In (chapters 6-13), the landscape of California changes for the worst as Steinbeck tries to describe the damage that the men have inflicted on California. Steinbeck's diction with words such as "rot", "waste", and "decay" associate the former Edenic Califronia with a deathly image. This diction corresponds with the shift in imagery that shows "meat turning dark and crop shriveling on the ground" along with "black shreds(of cherries) hanging from them(the seeds)"; further depicting the change of landscape of California. Instead of "valleys in which fruit blossoms", the valley expels an "odor of sweet decay" showing the horrible state that California has turned in to under the guidance of the "understanding" men. Steinbeck also uses strong imagery to depict plentiful pears falling "heavily to the ground and splashing on the ground"; a symbol Steinbeck also changes the main theme of colors from the beautiful pink and green of the former California to a deathly black. Steinbeck also uses the vernacular of Californians to show the panic that the farmers feel by expressing such phrases as "We can't do it." and "We can't pay wages, no matter what wages." putting the reader in to the mind of the farmers to experience that panic and

Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship lasted for nearly 30 years. His reign brought destruction and death to many people living in the Dominican Republic as well as its neighbor Haiti. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez depicts the story of the mirabal sisters who were living during the time of Trujillo’s regime. The Mirabal sisters were women who tried to fight against Trujillo’s evil ways and ended up being murdered because of his thirst for power. Trujillo’s reign began in the 1930’s and ended in the early 1960’s. The story’s setting takes place in the Dominican Republic during the 1950’s and follows the transition of the Mirabal sisters from young girls to powerful females. Symbolism is found in every chapter of the novel Alvarez

From the start the novel is laden with the pressures that the main characters are exposed to due to their social inequality, unlikeness in their heredity, dissimilarity in their most distinctive character traits, differences in their aspirations and inequality in their endowments, let alone the increasingly fierce opposition that the characters are facing from modern post-war bourgeois society.

“Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root / Black bodies swingin' in the Southern breeze” (Meeropol 1-3). “Strange Fruit” is written by Abel Meeropol and published in 1937. Abel Meeropol is a jewish teacher; he adopted two boys whose parents were executed. When Meeropol saw an image of a lynching he got inspired to write an anit-lynching poem. It is a dark poem that creates a gruesome image to make you realize the truth of lynching.

An analysis of Gloria Anzaldúa‘s The New Mestiza and James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time reveals that humans oppress themselves based on their differences. This is turn prevents them from identifying themselves as part of the human race. In his writings, Baldwin offers a solution to this hurdle that targets the apparent causes of the problem. However, Andalzua’s analysis of human difference reveals a few flaws in Baldwin’s view of the problem as well as his proposed solution to putting an end to human misery and oppression. Andalzua does so by examining Baldwin’s view of power, his view of love as a solution, and his view of the behavior of those who had been oppressive.

When you look at field of dandelions, you can either see a hundred weeds, or a thousand wishes… It's known as perspective in which, I have learned that two people can look at the exact say thing and see something totally different. In Fences and “Say yes”, both authors reveal that different perspectives about race create conflict with those that you love.