Sense Of Fear In Brent Staples's 'Just Walk On By'
analytical Essay
1262 words
Living in fear
Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or to intimidate. For Staples fear is the constant emotion rattling in his head every time he simply passes by someone. “Just Walk on By” — by Brent Staples, discusses the on going problem of being considered a possible threat to those around him. Although Staples arouses fear everywhere he steps foot, Mr. Staples also is fearful himself because of the reaction he causes due to his ethnic inheritance. He lives in a world where any black man or person of color is perceived as a imitate danger. Staples has a reason to be fearful as he is in a never ending nightmare filled with hate. The sense of fear he experiences
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or to intimidate.
- Analyzes how staples is afraid because of the racism he experiences day after day.
- Analyzes how staples is fearful because of his natural genes. he is constantly judged by pedestrians when he goes for his daily walk in the park.
- Analyzes how staples feels fearful, regardless of the person that he encounters in the street. he is perceived as a threat to those around him.
- Analyzes how staples' literature teaches individuals to fear black men as if they were monsters and to assume that anyone of his kind has the intention to cause harm.
- Analyzes how staples never imagined that the color of his skin would become an obstacle to his physical and emotional well-being.
- Analyzes how staples' sense of fear impedes the american dream of freedom. the american dream is the ideal that everyone should have an equal opportunity to attain success and prosperity.
- Explains that brent staples is fearful because he is constantly threatened, both physically and emotionally. he resides in a world where hate and judgement fill the minds of those around him.
He writes, “black men have a firm place in New York mugging literature” (1). The literature in his time have key influence to encourage negative thoughts towards black men. Staples mentions an essay that was popularized at the time; the essay by Norman Podhoretz titled “My Negro Problem—and Ours” narrates the childhood memories of terror that he experienced while encountering men of color on specific streets. This piece of literature creates a false image and displays encounters with black men as a scene from a horror film. It inspires hate and generalizes the image of African-American men. Staples also mentions the essayist Edward Hoagland, who openly displays his prejudicial beliefs regarding black males. Hoagland states that when he encounters a black man he views him as “a mugger who is clearly screwing up his nerve to do more than just ask for money” (1). Due to Hoagland’s influence, he spreads more unnecessary hatred towards the image of this racial …show more content…
Although Staples is “free,” the constant stigma he experiences acts like chains grounding him to constant judgment. Staples consistently causes unsettling thoughts in prejudice minds. The American Dream is the ideal that everyone should have an equal opportunity to attain success and prosperity, through hard work and determination. Staples grew up “one of the good boys” determined to succeed (2). In his twenty’s, he obtained a college degree from the University of Chicago. Staples is deprived from an equal opportunity to achieve the dream because in America’s culture he is perceived as a danger to society. Although Staples is far from a threat, he feels the urge to calm pedestrians near him with the use of soothing tunes. Staples writes, “I employ what has proved to be a excellent tension-reduction measure: I whistle melodies from Beethoven and Vivaldi and the more popular classical composers”(2). This measure has a positive response and the individuals near Staples join in on the tune. Staples’ American Dream is limited by feeling the need to please those around him. Even though Staples has all that is needed to succeed, he will be forever limited by the color of his skin.
Brent Staples is fearful because he is constantly threatened, both physically and emotionally. Staples has justified reason to feel afraid, as he resides in a world where hate and judgement fill the minds of those around him. Due to the prejudice
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- Analyzes how brent staples demonstrates his understanding of this fearful discrimination through his narrative structure, selection of detail, and manipulation of language.
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- Analyzes how staples demonstrates his understanding of his presence threatening pedestrians through his narrative structure, selection of detail, and manipulation of language. discrimination is not uncommon and one should strive to get to know someone before making assumptions about them.
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- Compares "black men in public space" and "right place, wrong face" to show that race does not define an individual.
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