OTHER ELEMENTS

FORESHADOWING

There are several other literary devices that pop up at various times in the story. One of the most prevalent ones is foreshadowing which frequently presents clues of something that will happen later in the novel. Some examples of foreshadowing include:

1. He believed that the time would come when the Negro in the South would be accorded all the political rights which his ability, character, and material possessions entitled him. For the most part this has come to pass 92 years later.

2. His optimism continued when Booker asserted that in time the South would encourage all its citizens to vote. He believed in universal, free suffrage, but that if an educational or property test were to be applied to protect the integrity of the ballot, it should be applied with equal and exact justice to both races. All of this eventually came about in the twentieth century.

3. Booker predicted that Negroes would be tested in the coming years in their patience and forbearance to endure the wrongs against them. This was especially true during the period of Civil Rights in the 1960’s.

IRONY

Another element that is important to note is irony - when something happens, or is seen, or is heard that we may know, but the characters do not, or that appears opposite of what is expected. Some examples of irony include:

1. Ironically, given what the reader now knows, Booker’s final assessment that there are no such organizations as the KKK in the South as he is writing this book is surprising.

2. At the time he was writing this book, Booker felt that his people had begun to recognize that color didn’t automatically make the best candidate. This is ironic, because you would think a black man like Booker would advocate a black candidate no matter how competent.

3. The willingness of Negroes to spend their hard-earned money on such things as sewing machines and clocks and an organ they couldn’t play was ironic, given their previous overwhelming poverty.

4. Booker said that nothing could take the place of soul in the speeches he gave. It is ironic that he used this word when it became a motto for Black people during the 1960’s and 1970’s.

5. Frederick Douglass said that on his trip to Europe, he had been forced to sleep on the deck because of his color. Booker on the other had was given the best stateroom on his trip.

6. Booker saw in the audience in Charleston West Virginia many of the white men for whom he had worked as a boy.