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

suffering is an inevitable result of discrimination” will hold the value of being true. In “Strange Fruit”, Mirraple talks about a “black bleeding strange fruit hanging from a tree” (Mirraple 1-4). Theses lines describe a black person, fruit, bleeding and hanging from a tree that is located in the South. In the South black were discriminated against and therefore were forced to suffer and even be hanged in some cases. In “Portrait in Georgia”, Toomer writes, “Lips--old scars, or the first red blisters” (Toomer 4). Pain, both metaphorically and physically, is being inflicted upon the lips of an individual thus causing scars and blisters to appear. The scars and blisters are the result of the pain that an individual had to endure. In this scenario, blacks were burned, after they died from huge amounts of physical pain, which caused the blisters to appear on their lips. W hile Mirraple and Toomer both discuss discrimination and pain and suffering in their poems, Mirraple tends to used symbolism to get his message across.
Symbolism is used throughout “Strange Fruit” to elucidate the theme of pain and suffering.

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

poem.
Imagery is constantly used in “Portrait in Georgia” to relate to the theme of human suffering. An author uses imagery to create a mental picture for the audience to convey the theme in a mannerful way. In “Portrait in Georgia”, “braided hair” and how it resembles a “lyncher’s rope” is discussed in depth (Toomer 1-2). The author compares the hair to a rope so that we are able to visualize a specific picture. This picture helps us to understand that the person, who the poem is revolved around, is about to be hanged because he/she is vividly being compared to a person on death row. Another line in “Portrait in Georgia”, states, “And her slim body, white as the ash of black flesh after flame” (Toomer 6-7). The imagery present here refers to the color of the ash and flesh. Toomer interchanges white and black and thus conveys a message that it doesn’t matter what color a person is because ultimately we all burn the same. The image of white ash and black flesh appear in the reader’s mind, which then leads to the reader comprehending the message stated above. Jean Toomer successfully uses imagery to relate to the theme of human suffering. Both Toomer and Mirraple successfully convey the theme, even though they used to very separate tactics to achieve their goal.
Toomer’s use of symbolism and Mirraple’s use of imagery both relate to the same theme, pain and suffering is led by discrimination.

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

shooting. Media has brought new information to light by claiming that the protests that are caused by the Grand Jury ruling are not because a single black man was killed, but because discrimination had its’ fair share in the horrific events. History has proven that blacks, specifically, have been discriminated against since the beginning of life and, quite frankly, they still are even in this time period. The statement “discrimination yields human suffering” withholds it’s truth even today. Martin Luther King Jr., an advocate for civil rights, created a similar statement which is still deemed as being correct and accurate. He said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”