From The Souls Of Black Folk Sparknotes

From The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Du bois is lauded in American history and sociology for its symbolic importance. Du Bois uses style, Tone, imagery, metaphors and similes as well as many other literary devices to discuss socially constructed and self-determined identities. Throughout this analysis I plan to discuss three chapters out of From The souls of Black Folk. Those chapters are chapter one of our spiritual striving, chapter three of Mr. Booker T. Washington and others and last chapter 14 of the sorrow songs. W.E.B Du Bois book anticipates many of the central questions of the twentieth century and makes the reader aware that current problems have their roots in the failed effort to bring equality and justice to African Americans

after the civil war.
Du Bois has two main ideas that he talks about throughout his book.

Those two main themes are what Du Bois terms double conciseness and the other theme is that African Americans grow up living behind a veil. Du Bois explains that he first became aware of this veil growing up as a child in Massachusetts. One day all the children in Du Bois class at school exchanged greeting cards, and one girl refused to accept Du Bois’ card. It was this experience that helped him realize he was different and was excluded from the world of white people by a vast veil. However Du Bois didn’t immediately feel the need to destroy the veil. He instead dedicated himself to working hard in the hope that in his future he could become a doctor, lawyer, or writer. Du Bois notes that his reaction is different from that of other young black boys, many of whom grew bitter at the idea that god made them outsiders within their own

country.
Du Bois uses poetic imagery to illustrate the idea that white and black people in America are separated into two worlds.

Although they may inhabit the same community which is the case in Du Bois integrated school, the reality is that they are divided by an invisible yet immensely powerful force, which Du Bois characterizes as a veil. This veil represents the psychosocial force of racism that prevents black people from accessing the same chances, resources, treatment and quality of life as white people. Du Bois argues that the veil makes black people feel like outsiders in their own country. Children are not born with knowledge of the veil, but black children discover it at an early age. “After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second sight in this American world- a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world”(308). This quote suggest that African Americans are treated as outsiders in their own country. Witch creates a painfully split subjectivity that Du Bois calls “double consciousness”. Double consciousness is one of Du Bois most influential concepts in his book. Du Bois explains that double consciousness is a painful burden because it creates a constant feeling of alienation, self-hatred, and doubt. Du Bois emphasizes that African-Americans are so torn apart by the identities and

perspectives they are forced to inhabit that it can feel like existing as two opposing people, instead of one person. This is a good example of the psychological burden of racism. Du Bois also shows that double consciousness can have material effects like causing black people to turn to hedonism and crime, or to influence black people to compromise with whites on political matters. Du Bois suggest that until African Americans can live in harmony with these two views and feel that there is no contradiction between being both black and American, they will remain unable to achieve real progress, freedom, and peace.
In the next chapter of Du Bois book he writes mainly about Booker T. Washington, who at the time was one of the most famous African-American leaders. Washington was born around 1856 into slavery but would later work to uplift southern black people through the promotion of education and philanthropy. In The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois admits that Washington was a pioneer, taking on a role as a leader committed to helping the welfare of his people. However on the other hand, Du Bois is highly critical of Washington’s leadership style and in this chapter Du Bois mainly try’s to point out the deep flaws in Washington’s approach.” History is but the record of such group leadership; and yet how infinitely changeful is its type and character!” (316) Du bois has detailed his assessment of highly influential African-American leader Booker T. Washington, criticizing Washington’s popularity among white people and the silencing of his condemnation within the black community. Du Bois argues that it should not be the case that black people have their leaders chosen for them by whites, but that they should elect their leaders themselves. This is especially important because, as Du Bois points out in this quotation, the historical record tends to revolve around the leaders of groups rather than ordinary citizens and therefor people ate represented by their leaders not only in a present, political sense, but also in history. So it is unwise and unjust for leaders not to be chosen by the very people they aim to lead.
Another quote from Du Bois book that really stood out to me was when Du Bois says “The Nation has not yet found peace from its sins; the freedman has not yet found in freedom his promised land. Whatever of good may have come in these years of change, the shadow of a deep disappointment rest upon the Negro people.” (310). I thought that this was a very powerful quote by Du Bois. He has explained that slaves used to believe they would be saved by a divine intervention, and when Emancipation finally arrived there was a brief moment when it seemed like this sacred justice had prevailed. However, the years following emancipation have proven such optimism to be premature, if not completely delusional. Although technically no longer slaves, black people are not really free at all. This is most obviously true of the rural southern poor, whose lives often still resemble slavery. However it is also true of even the most privileged and successful black people, whose existence is restricted by the presence of the color line and the veil. By referring to the unresolved “sins” of America, Du Bois is suggesting that black people will not be free until there has been some sort of restorative or compensatory justice for the damage caused by slavery.
The topics that Du Bois addresses may at first appear to be a rather random assortment of different issues facing the African- American community. However, his overview of the book’s content also illuminates its key overarching themes, including problems within education and leadership, the pervasive burden of racial exclusion, and the idea that the freedom black people have been promised is something of an illusion. In writing this book I think Du Bois has positioned himself as a major leader in the African-American intellectual tradition and in the fight for racial justice. In a lot ways, Du Bois leadership style is unusual. He combines personal anecdote, historical evidence, numerical data, and even a short story in order to depict the African-American community in a multi-dimensional, insightful and nuanced manner, and refuses to shy away from highlighting the bleaker elements of black life. Although prescriptive at points, the main purpose of Du Bois’ writing seems to be to convey rich and detailed information about history and present the situation of black people in America. By doing so Du Bois suggest that if more people properly understood the reality of race and racism they would be inspired to act in a way that would foster racial justice.