Between the World and Me

As I read this poem, I wasn’t sure what it was about. After I read the last paragraph, I knew exactly what it was about; tarring and feathering a man. While reading this poem by Richard Wright, I pictured the scene to be outside near trees and nature. It seemed dead and filthy. The poet described every little detail about his surroundings. He described a whore’s lipstick, shoes, cigarettes, peanut shells and many more odd objects. He described the tarring very graphically, and in my mind a saw the man being tarred and feathered and it was almost as if I could feel the pain that he was feeling, just through the words that Richard Wright used. That is a very powerful thing to do and make someone feel, just through a poem. Reading this makes think, 'Did people really do this? Tar and feather people publicly?' It's awful that people did that. Richard Wright brought the truth of an event in 1935 out, and made everyone aware of how cruel and horrible it was, just through words.