Short Critical Essay

Carolyn P. Walker’s Interpretation of a Link between White People and White Snow

Carolyn P. Walker’s interpretation and emphasis on a strong link between White people and white snow in the poem “Liberating Christ” is true and concise, as will be explored in this article, especially in regards to the circumstances in which the main character Sergeant finds himself as a result of the two.

Sergeant’s Encounter with the White Snow

Sergeant alights from the freight wagon, oblivious to the effects of the snow (1078). He walks through the icy snow, a metaphor for the difficulties he is facing, preoccupied with starvation and sleep and paying little attention to the cold. Similarly, the white people do not accept him because of his race and are unwilling to employ him, leaving him homeless. Therefore, the reception he gets from the white people and the challenges he gets as a result of the white snow have a close relationship linking the white people to the white snow. Consequently, I concur with Carolyn P. Walker that there is a connection between the white snow and the white people. I therefore, disagree that the Defeatist attitude can never be associated with the poem because of the reality in which Sergeant had to go through from both the snow and the white people.

Langston Hughes’ Assessment of Reality and Fantasy within the Short Story

I also agree with the Langston Hughes assessment that merges reality and fantasy within the short story. A case in point is the situation in which Sergeant thinks of an incident in which the church is collapsing and materials cover the congregation in a harming way. Supremely, the fantasy of the case overrules the case’s reality that was initially presented at the beginning of the short story. Note that Sergeant does not stop there but continues all the way to envision other scenarios in his mind until he reaches the awakening point in which the white cops have to come and shout at him behind the bars. Furthermore, the strength of the fantasy implied in the last section of the story overshadows the reality in the readers mind.

Alliteration and Consonance in the Poem

There are also some instances of alliteration and consonance in the poem. This includes the second paragraph when Sergeant is referred to as the “big black man” (1078) and when he is chased from the church with the words “Huh! Hongry” (1078). However, the consonance is not appropriate because it fails to establish the link between the snow and the church. Notwithstanding, the use of alliteration is appropriate as it is used to successfully establish the aesthetic in the story as one of the sound stylistic devices.

Sergeant as a Representative of Christ

Even though Walker insists that Sargeant is a representation of Christ, I do not fully agree. The oppression he gets from the white people may be the representation of the suffering and trials that Christ faced as seen on the transparent windows of the church. Sargeant’s hardships may be thought of as those Christ had to face, but they fit a parody more. For instance, Sargeant leaves the church ruins laughing because he thinks that the reverend Dorset is buried within the ruins. This is unlike Christ who would never have wished for such a tragedy to face even his worst enemies and oppressors. In fact, Christ died while praying for his crucifiers, hence Christ would never have meant harm to reverend Dorset.

The Lack of Contrast and Repetition in the Story

Another failure that comes out with Walker’s work is that she fails to bring out the contrast in the story. To begin with, Sargeant does not take note of the white snow in the lights of the town’s main street at night. Light and night ought to have represented the two races, white and black, as depicted in the society. Equally important is that she fails to bring out the repetition in several other instances. Sargeant is told “Hey!’ they said. ’Hey’” (1079). Moreover, she also failed to cover some of the themes expressed in the story, such as Sargeant’s determination and perseverance to break the prison doors. However, we should also give her credit for doing an excellent work in bringing about the other stylistic devices.

Sargeant’s Faith in the Lord

Walker also successfully attributes Sargeant with the faith of Samson in the Lord. Even though Sargeant had faith in himself, there is also several textual evidence that he had faith in the Lord. He had a strong conviction, determination, and desire to solicit consolation from the church since he believed that Christ resided in the church and that the reverend would be faithful enough to Christ to help him solve all the suffering and anguish. This shows the kind of faith he had in Christ.

Life Lessons from Hughes’ Story

There are several life lessons that we can learn from Hughes’s story because Hughes’ story presents a number of challenges that humans have to deal with in this life. These challenges include conflicts in the society, racial discrimination among other vices such as drug abuse. However, Langston Hughes’ “On the Road” story is the best story that depicts these vices and especially so for the racial discrimination that is the major factor engulfing our society today. In a nutshell, “On the Road” is majorly dedicated to addressing the religious hypocrisy that is currently overwhelming most of the churches. In fact, most of the modern preachers teach their congregation the doctrines as was taught by Christ, but they themselves are leading hypocritical lives. None of them is willing to follow the doctrines they are teaching and therefore they are preaching water but drinking wine. Therefore, I concur that Walker addressed the story title succinctly because she brings out all of the parts of the story so well. She, in fact, goes an extra mile to portray the different themes and some of the stylistic devices used for the prose.

Works cited

Hughes, Langston. “On the Road.” World Literature matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers, 6th ed., edited by John Schilb and John Clifford, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015, pp. 1077-82

Walker, Carolyn P. “Liberating Christ: Sargeant’s Metarmophisis in Langston Hughes’s ’On the Road,’”. Black American Literature Forum, vol. 25. no. 4, Winter 1991, pp. 745-52. JSTOR. Accessed 27 Nov. 2007