A Loss of Innocence: Youth’s Ever-Changing Role in Society

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The bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 resulted in the death of 4 young girls. Dudley Randall was able to call upon this as inspiration and thus created his masterpiece “Ballad of Birmingham.” This in addition the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, “fueled his commitment to civil rights.” (Randall Headnote 37) In Randall’s poem, the importance of one playing an active role in society to help shape the future is explored; through the actions of a small girl. Ironically suggesting that revolutions in society which are meant to better the future for youth, affect these youth negatively. Implying that such trauma causes a loss of innocence among the society’s youth, destroying the future stability of a society. Through his symbolism and imagery, Randall is able to show the message of hope and innocence lost by tragedy.
The youth that society nurtures for the advancement of the future are the impression of innocence, and are unknowing the issues that affect society. Randall utilizes symbolism throughout the poem to outline the girl as part of this collective youth model. The reader sees many examples of symbolism in the fifth stanza. An example of this device is “Her dark night hair” (line 17). The effect of this line is to depict the girl as being young and full of life, as the reader envisions the “dark night” colour of the young girl’s hair as being the colour of a long tunnel which signifies the girl’s long future ahead of her. This shows how young these activists are, and communicates to the main idea of youth being involved in the present for their society’s future. Another instance is seen in the same stanza, describing the girl as “rose petal sweet, and drawn white gloves” (lines 18-19). The effect o...

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...ir. Despite this despair, society comes to the understanding that the loss of innocence transpires for a purpose, this event and emotions associated with this event creates the just society aimed by those youth who tragically fought for this ideal.
From the examples of figurative language and devices seen in the “Ballad of Birmingham”, the role of youth in society is ever changing. The days of youth being associated with innocence is gone and they are now driven to speak against issues in society. Yet, these youth can be lost without hesitation, concluding the cruel irony that the poem centres on a mother who wants to be sure her child is protected from the revolution, yet it is the sacred, the church where her young girl is lost, showing the merciless of society, where all is affected by the repercussions of an event, but only a few truly feel the harshness of it.

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