Red_Wheelbarrow_Historical_View

Theory: The poem is about slavery in the view of the slave. - “A red wheel barrow” = The oppressed ethnic groups o Red can signify blood, because many slaves in the new world died or were tortured. They were also paid with very little money, if any at all. o Wheelbarrow could signify hardship. This was the case in oppressed minority groups, where they were unable to break from the pattern of oppression and sheer poverty because they had to carry a wheelbarrow throughout. • Historical context: back in the 20’s, minority ethnic groups weren’t considered as full human beings; wheelbarrow is an object • This was done for the general public to accept the poem - “Glazed with rain water” = signifies the working conditions o Rain water = implies many things • No consideration for health or safety (meaning they worked in any condition, including in rain) • Sweat (they worked tirelessly until they were drenched in sweat, like rainwater) • Tears (so much tears like rain water) (continue) o Glazed = signifies they were covered for generations • You only see the outside, the final product, the glaze (meaning you see only the slavery side, the oppressed side of the slaves. 4Therefore they aren’t treated human) • Glazed means new layers were put on and finished for generations. You don’t see them actually suffering, you see them liking the work or don’t’ mind “glazed = smooth, clean) • Historical context: oppressed ethnic groups worked in very harsh conditions without decent pay; the managers who operated such businesses and farms often saw the oppressed groups as emotionless, hard-working slaves. - “Beside the white chicken” = the white people. o “Chickens” = they feed off the work from the slaves, minority groups without doing much work. o “Beside” = they are literally right next to them, but they just view the red wheelbarrow like a continuous object, continuous source of food o “Beside” = they can live next to each other, they don’t have to be separated; when they leave alone, chickens don’t tend to mind the wheelbarrow o “Chicken” = implies fear, didn’t want to go against the norm, a lot didn’t know much about the oppression, didn’t know much oppressed minority groups or had relationships with them. o Chickens don’t think much. • Historical context: Most of the general public followed blindly, many of them not knowing how many benefits they receive from the work of slaves - The narrator (the wheelbarrow) feeds the chicken. o Alternate viewpoint, same themes ^^^ however, different context, switch the roles. Ay ay ay... This is something I often think about, probably the most recent example of this that I have seen, would have to be in the movie "Zero Dark Thirty" where it actually opens with a scene of torture. In the scenes, the detainee is subjected to humiliation, waterboarding, starving, and is even forced into a tiny box for long periods of time. These scenes invoke very strong emotions, and often make the audience wince. Now there is some controversy regarding this topic, and some say that the waterboarding technique is not really used, though I personally find that hard to believe. In the movie, the real information is given after they are done the torture, while the agents are being "nice" to their prisoner. In this case, to me, I think that the torture should not have been taken to the extent that it was, as it seemed to strengthen the detainee's conviction rather than break it. Of course, we should always consider the historical aspect, looking back in history, there are many examples of torture. As far back as our written or recorded history takes us, we can see examples of torture, used mainly as punishment, reaching even today. Many ancient cultures such as the Romans, the Greeks, the Carthaginians, all used torture as a form of interrogation as well. When we talk about the middle ages, the topic of torture seems to come up almost every time