Analysis Of Ambiguity Over The Confederate Flag

Ambiguity Over the Confederate Flag by Frank X Walker tells the story of life in the South during slavery. The narrator, speaks in first person for one part of the poem, while the other half is spoken from an omniescent on-looker. Through both of these perspectives readers are given two separate accounts of what slavery was like during that time. By using the principles of New Criticism readers are able to fully understand the context of the poem. Furthermore, through this technique, readers draw conclusions in response to the text. From this analysis and through close reading it is clear that there is a major tension regarding how whites viewed slavery verses how African American’s viewed slavery.
The first sign of this tension is seen through

Because the poem is written in two different formats it causes readers to want to know more from both perspectives. If reading the poem from the slave owners perspective the mood of the poem, revolves around happier times. Slavery is showcased to be a time of possibility and better times for everyone involved. But when reading it from the slave’s perspective, it is told from the business element. Although it is clear, they do not enjoy their job, you also see that they are overly dedicated. In the beginning, they state that they work from sun-up to sun-down doing the same thing every day. And although, they are doing the same thing every day their determination and hard work is clearly shown. Furthermore, it is also shown that even at a young age they started working as slaves. From the slave owner’s perspective, we see that they are content with how things were during slavery. But from slave side they are fed up with being viewed as a profit. Therefore, the two separate moods are clearly shown. However, one thing that is interesting is that both poems end with the same word “slavery”. The fact that both poems ended using the same word, show how although they are living in two separate worlds somehow they still will collide. It also shows, that although they have two different moods it all ties back to the word