Truth, Race, and Resentment: Ta-Nehisi Coates' Experience

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Recommended: Racism in english literature

Between the world and me is a novel written in such a way that the reader feels as though the author, Ta-Nehisi Coates’, is writing to them. Written as a letter to his son, Coates explains his life starting at a very young age to today’s world where his son is living and explains the racial segregation and dehumanization that he has witnessed throughout his life. He writes this letter so that his son can be made aware that being a “dreamer” can ultimately hurt you in a world that dehumanizes certain skin colors. Coates learns how to follow his own desires and to seek truth through learning and having interactions with people he never thought he would, but he also has a lot of resentment against his country and how people of color are treated.

Seeking the truth for oneself is a huge theme throughout this book because often times Coates finds himself needing to figure things out on his own. He grew up in a “loving house even as it was besieged by its country, but it was hard,”(pg 126) because his parents wanted him to know at a young age that because of …show more content…

Growing up, it was never “cool” to be good at school and he often found himself not enjoying it because he had to be there. He felt as though his education made him a follower of the way society wanted you to think, but because of his resentment of the society he lived in, he didn’t like learning this way. Education for Coates was a way for his curiosity to flourish. The library was his safe space where he was able to read up on events, peoples and places that sparked his interest and that made him much more knowledgeable on all aspects of life, but specifically about blacks lives. His education was sparked by him seeking the truth about how blacks are treated, but after learning all that he did he resented the world that was around him because he was able to form knowledgeable opinions on these

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