Race Relations In Ta-Nehisi Coates Between The World And Me

In Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, a biographical novel discussing race relations, he expresses his thoughts about being an African American in the United States. His innermost views repeatedly involve his memories of living in times where his own race is assaulted for irrational reasons. All of these thoughts were directly communicated toward his son, Samori, to convey that he wants his son to understand that being a black individual carries a large burden. In doing so, Coates wants to ensure that his son still remain ambitious and positive without down casting himself by the color of his skin. He conveys this message by incorporating many examples of metaphors and imagery in order to assert that being this particular race should not hinder his son’s desires. Rather, regarding this

However, one of the most significant pieces of metaphors Coates utilizes is his description of Prince Jones’ death. Coates states, “Think of all the embraces…customs, greetings, names, dreams, all the shared knowledge and capacity of a black family injected into that vessel of flesh and bone. And think of how that vessel was taken, shattered on the concrete, and all its holy contents, all that had gone into him, sent flowing back to earth” (82). By stating this, he creates a metaphor with a moral value. He claims that Prince Jones’ life is a vessel, carrying every component that made his life meaningful. Unfortunately, his life was immediately taken away by a fatal murder that raised Jones’ essence back to heaven. Giving this account to his son meant that Coates wanted him to understand that his own race is unjustly targeted as violent beings. The fact that one of his valued friends was murdered because one white individual claimed that he felt endangered in his presence was repulsive towards Coates. This memory scorned his perception of reality of society in that he repeatedly reasoned himself that they have a negative perception towards black