Ida B. Wells: A Non-Literary Analysis

When learning how to read and write, the first style that is usually introduced is the form of fictional stories. These stories tend to enhance the imagination as they peak the interests of young minds through grand adventures within mystical lands. As one continues there is an almost instantaneous switch, in which the reader goes from enjoying the enticing fictional world to suddenly being forced into the land of non-fiction. Non-fiction is a prose writing that is factual based, including real events, and real people, such as a bibliography or history. With this definition, it tends to not be clear as to how the story is told, whether it incorporates multiple perspectives or opinions. However, a non-fiction story cannot be told well without

In prior years when racism and segregation ran rampant throughout America, it was vital that both sides of a story were taken into consideration, otherwise the world was often left with a biased and untrue story. An example is found in the writings of Ida B. Wells as she wrote in the exact aforementioned time. Wells had written a piece entitled, “Mob Rule in New Orleans: Robert Charles and His Fight to the Death” which details the accounts of a recent string of events pertaining to the hunting of an African American man, Robert Charles. Charles, as the writing reveals, was framed as a “cop killer” in the city of New Orleans. In the writing there is an approach taken by Wells that includes the major white newspaper articles on the subject as well as her own. The purpose behind this approach was to ensure that the potential audience would not discount her work since she was African American herself. Without Wells’ account included, the narrative that was being produced was entirely biased and smeared Robert Charles as the typical uncouth and violent black man. Wells’ work made a whole truth that could be easily followed, which allowed the audience to decide for themselves as to what was true or

There should never be an instance of the audience having to question the credibility of the writing or the author. However, this is an issue that will always arise when there is a lack of outer sources. Sometimes it may not even be the author who is in question, rather it may be the person or entity they may be writing about. The usual tendency of the average human being is to never display flaws, and to only share triumphs. This leads to stories that are heavily biased as well, which hinders the audience from knowing or understanding the real entity of the writing. Without the incorporation of multiple perceptions, it is impossible to produce a well-written piece of non-fiction. The results are conclusively infested with bias, lies, incomplete accounts, and the audience is then driven to believe what they have read is