Portrait In Georgia And Strange Fruit Comparison

Does discrimination yield suffering? Both “Portrait in Georgia” by Jean Toomer and “Strange Fruit” by Abel Mirraple are poems that reflect on discrimination, generally in the South. Pain and suffering is a major theme in the plots of both “Portrait in Georgia” and “Strange Fruit” because both poems deal with the concept and effects of discrimination. Jean Toomer, in “Portrait in Georgia” uses vivid and evocative imagery to relate to the theme, while Mirraple, in “Strange Fruit”, uses symbolism to clearly illustrate and elucidate the theme. Jean Toomer and Able Mirraple discuss the concept of discrimination and how pain and suffering is an inevitable effect of it. If history is evaluated from today’s perspective, then the statement “pain and

An author uses symbolism to draw out the symbolic meaning of a text. It is stated in “Strange Fruit”, “Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck” (Mirraple 9). This interpretation of this line can be quite literal, in the sense that the “crows” mentioned could be a direct reference to Jim Crow. Crows usually eat the remains of dead animals and are ominous. Jim Crow depicted blacks as animal-like in nature and he face painted his face to show how blacks looked and acted like. Jim Crow’s actions made him look and feel ominous. “Southern trees bearing a strange fruit that is hanging down from the trees” (Mirraple 1,4). The use of symbolism would be towards the southern trees. The trees hanged the strange fruit, otherwise known as colored people. The Southern trees symbolize the location of the deaths of the colored people. Blacks were brought to these trees to be hanged which portrays the message that discrimination yields human suffering and possibly death. Abel Mirraple’s use of symbolism successfully illustrated the theme of the poem. Jean Toomer uses imagery, rather than symbolism, to elucidate the theme of the

Toomer uses imagery to talk about human suffering in the South. The topic of scars and trees is brought up to discuss how discrimination towards a certain people resulted in human suffering. Mirraple uses symbolism to discuss human suffering in the South. The topic of hanging and Jim Crow is brought up to talk about how discrimination towards a certain people resulted in human suffering. Both of these poems relate to the age of Slavery in the United States. During slavery, blacks specifically were assigned to perform hard and intense labor. Slaves had a master how would punish them if tasks weren’t performed correctly or sufficiently. These punishments were severe and brutal and resulted in scars being left imprinted on the slaves backs due to the sheer power of the whip. During this time, blacks were discriminated against to some extent because whites believed that they were superior and had supreme authority over the blacks. The issue of human suffering and discrimination is relevant from the start of life to the present. The events that unfolded in Ferguson caused a lot of stir between the population of the United States because the topic of discrimination was brought up. In Ferguson, an officer shot and killed a black teen. The black community of Ferguson, specifically, believe that discrimination and racism played a huge part in that