Language in Amiri Baraka's The Dutchman The popular saying "actions speak louder than words" is upended in Amiri Baraka's play, The Dutchman, where words, or in this case language, speaks louder than the actions of the characters, Lula and Clay. Language governs the characters and their actions, and is therefore a prominent feature in shaping the identities of Lula and Clay. In the play, Baraka conveys the significance of Lula and Clay being enabled to change their identities by a simple change in the type of language they employ. Though it may seem that the characters have dominion over the language and can shape their own identities by a simple change in the language they utilize, through repetition of the concurring motifs of lying, myths, pretending to be someone else, and diction, Baraka conveys the idea that language superintends the characters' actions and identities, and is used as an escape from reality for Lula, a white woman, and as a means of survival for Clay, a black man. How language shapes the identity of the characters Lula and Clay is prominent in the repeating theme of lying in the play. Lula claims that she "lie[s] all the time" (27). By lying, she is trying to shape an identity for herself. But what she fails to realize is that instead of her lies putting her in control of creating an identity for herself, the language she employs by lying forms her identity. Therefore the language of lies, as an outside force, is the shaper of her identity, and not the fact that she chooses to lie. Because Lula is constantly lying throughout the play, she becomes a static character. Her identity as a static character is therefore once again shaped by the fact that she lies all the time. By lying Lula ... ... middle of paper ... ...ct more black. Instead when Clay breaks out of the fake white man identity, he assumes the identity of an intelligent artist. This is reflected in the diction he uses and the intellectually deep insight he gives on his thoughts of breaking out, where he states that if the black man were to break out, he would become like the white man, and do what the white man does: kill. Clay does break out, even if for a short time, but as he falls back into his "identity" Lula decides she doesn't like him when he breaks out and kills him. Through the use of the idea of lying, myths, pretending to be someone else, and diction, Baraka is able to convey that language makes the identity of a person, and controls how that person acts. It is therefore evident that words speak louder than actions, because it is the words that make a person, and shape the acts of a person.
Words have a way of changing the way we view the world. They can completely alter our perception of what is true and what is false. Take the tale of Skidmore and Manchester, as dictated in the story ‘The Curse of the Poisoned Pretzel.’ The way the author portrays the character of Skidmore shows just how easily words can change how we see someone by making you believe that Skidmore is guilty of his brother‘s murder, without ever formally saying so.
In this particular play we are more focused on black identity in a sense as they are trying to find themselves, whether it be as an African American, woman or man. More in a sense they don’t feel complete because of the past and current circumstances that they are in. And just like the Dutchman, this play does deal with some racial discrimination. Herald Loomis is taken from his family to work for the fictitious “Joe Turner” chain gang.
Deception is present in Tennessee Williams’s drama ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, William Shakespeare’s Tragedy ‘Othello’ and L. P. Hartley’s novel ‘The Go-Between’; the writers choose to use characterisation to explore the theme in depth. Often the protagonists of each text are the primary offenders of deceit, though some supporting characters mislead as well; although Iago is the antagonist of ‘Othello’, he is incomparably the most deceitful character in the entire play. Similarly, Williams uses Blanche to develop the plot by misleading the other characters and even herself at times, though arguably, unlike Iago, Blanche is presented as a character who lacks the motivation to hurt anyone. Conversely Leo, although the protagonist and narrator of the novel, is not the most deceitful character – Ted Burgess and Marian Maudsley not only coerce him into the deceit, but they themselves are presented as masters of the game they play, however, this essay will focus on Leo as he is a unique symbol of deceit; he is unaware of the consequences of his actions.
Lies play a central part in the play as the story is based around lies
The one characteristic that makes humans who we are is our ability to adapt. Whether this is in terms of weather, geography, or even through our speech, people adapt to our environment. In “Speaking in Tongues”, the author Zadie Smith, expresses her own literacy journey/metamorphosis and how her voice had changed as a result of her environment and inadvertently also changed her identity. While explaining this, she also connects her own experiences in a larger social context with well known examples such as William Shakespeare and our current president Barack Obama. We speak differently depending on where we are and to whom we surround ourselves; this is evident in the way that Zadie Smith, Barack Obama, William Shakespeare, and I speak and
Carl Sandburg's poem Languages is a poem about how languages can change over time. On the surface level, it compares the evolution of language to the formation of a river. At the same time, however, it makes a statement on why languages are difficult to label and mark. The lines dividing languages blur very easily.
In the poem “White Lies” by Natasha Tretheway the narrator opens the poem with vivid imagery about a bi-racial little girl who is trying to find her true identity between herself and others around her. She tells little lies about being fully white because she feels ashamed and embarrassed of her race and class and is a having a hard time accepting reality. The poem dramatizes the conflict between fitting in and reality. The narrator illustrates this by using a lot imagery, correlations and connotation to display a picture of lies. The narrator’s syntax, tone, irony and figurative language help to organize her conflict and address her mother’s disapproval.
“Language is frequently used to stir up & manipulate emotions.” - Mary Hamer. The words that people say can appear brutal or detrimental. These violent words take up many forms such as lying, insulting, etc. Along with its’ comedic formula, William Shakespeare's, Much Ado About Nothing is enhanced with humorous mockery and intertwined dialogues. In the play, the soldiers have just returned from a successful war. Love is traveling through the village; however the “language of war” appears rooted in the language. Numerous times do the characters joke around in cruel dialects. The mockery, however, is not considered to be as harsh due to the presence of comedy within the play. William Shakespeare’s intricate use of language in his play, Much Ado About Nothing, allows immense aggressive language to thrive in the characters yet is able to use this to alleviate the violence.
Distinctive voices of individuals is far much greater than just one’s spoken words; Isn’t it? Voices hold so much more meaning! It can be said to be one’s expression of their attitudes or perspective through body language or a series of actions. We can see that one’s unique opinion towards a subject is inevitably articulated through their unique expression which draws others into viewing the expressed perspective.
... generations. Racial tensions have resulted in tragedies; Clay’s murder in the end of the play is a symbolic portrayal of an innocent man attacked for the color of his skin and nothing more. The art of theatre attacks the audience to consider these social issues. At the end of Dutchman the audience is left uncomfortable, shocked and left to piece together the role of Lula, Clay and the flying Dutchman subway cart are metaphors for problems greater than the play’s conflict.
Language has the power to influence and reshape our thoughts and actions. In Anthem, by Ayn Rand, there is a society which controls the language of everyone in it. Under the World Council, everyone is to follow the many rules put in place and no one even tries to break them. There is no “I” in their language, there is only “we”. With the power to influence and reshape people, language has a big impact on our thoughts and actions.
Dutch Difficulties with English Dialects Knowledge of the Dutch language is not sufficient to be understood at all. over the world. Therefore, many Dutch people have taken the effort to acquire a level of near-native proficiency in the English language. However, there are several varieties of English, for example Irish and Scottish dialects. Nevertheless, the majority of the Dutch have learnt.
Tan has proven herself a master of rhetorical appeals as well as proving her point, that language can have drastic affects on the users. She has judged and been judged by her language, and has seen her mother disrespected because of how she speaks. Speech is important, as it is used as a tool to determine the limitations of your thoughts.
In “The Language of Silence,” Kingston was a Chinese immigrant who was timid in her early years of school. The thought of having her voice heard in class made her feel insecure to read or even shed a word outside of class. Kingston mentions, “When I went to kindergarten and had to speak English for the first time, I became silent.”(167) In other words, because she couldn’t speak English fluently, she began to use silence to protect herself from sounding “dumb.” She knew that the English language that came out of her mouth, differed from everyone else's. For children who possess another language, challenges will be presented in school because not only we have to learn the material, but we have to learn an unknown language to us. Perhaps just like Kingston, I struggled to find my place in the English language. When I was little, Spanish was the language I dominated which made me feel really smart. My feelings changed when English was introduced to my life. I encountered myself in a puzzled world, with beautiful pieces because English is a beautiful language, but I just didn’t
Humanity is defined by one major factor: one’s understating of the self. By understanding one’s self, one can understand society and the world that surrounds themselves. There is one thing that can often distort one’s personality, one’s identity. By identifying as one thing a person can often change how they act or do certain things. This is often found to hide one’s true motives or intention, but it can also be used to hide hidden factors that aren’t as prevalent. One’s personality and identity are very closely linked, and tend to play off one another. This fact can be show in within multiple works. To name a few authors who demonstrate this fact: Clifford Geertz, Horace Miner, and Andrei Toom. Their works seek to dive deeper