Blood On The Forge By Attaway: A Literary Analysis

Not all the characters can relate to each other while both the narrator and the folks are dealing with poverty and on the other hand Ed-ward is the wealthy one. The narrator is a innocent men who is just another hungry man because the times in Harlem where bad, he comes across the folks and the folks convince him to help them but this where the both characters are different. It’s time where Ed-ward starts to come across, the narrator and the folks grab Ed-ward and throw him down to a basement. The folks took all of Edward's things and the narrator ended up with nothing, only ones left are the narrator and Ed-ward, both characters realize one thing because of what Ed-ward said “that's the first exciting thing that's ever happened to me,” (Langston Hughes, 258) it made them both realize that you don’t need money to find

A main factor in the storyline is the way the writer portrays society's attitude to poverty in the 18th century. The poor people were treated tremendously different to higher classed people. A lot of people were even living on the streets. For example, "He picked his way through the hordes of homeless

Living in Harlem established suppressed and fearful identities for the two brothers. For most of their lives they lived in a black and poor neighborhood of Harlem where there was abundance of potential but they’re threatened by the drugs and violence of the urban ghetto. Growing up in such an environment encouraged the narrator to become more understanding of the surroundings, he suspected his own students to “be popping off needles every time they went to the head,” and comes to the

life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.

“Honor your heritage that you may honor the heritage of others”. Sankofa does mean to learn from our past, yet, on the practical side, I do not take this to mean we should go back reflect and stay there. Yes, I believe it’s about reflecting on where we came from and those traditions that bind us; where we have common experience (or differences). Sharing our stories creates connection and story. It creates momentum.

The main theme of the book was racial tension. The white folks treated the black folks like they were dirt. Even older white folks treated the younger black children like dirt. I do not understand how any adult could hit a child, especially because of their color. One instance that really bothered me was when a white man almost raped Melba because she was black. It was in 1954, immediately after Brown vs. the Board of Education decision had came down. After that she said she was going to read the newspaper because she wanted to know when white men got angry. And sometimes she had to spend her own nickel for it. Another theme throughout the book could be determination. The nine children were determined to carry out integration. They did not give up. Some older black folks in the neighborhood faulted the nine children for the actual attempt of integration. They claimed that it made it harder than it already was to be black and living in Little Rock. For example, Melba’s neighbor Mrs. Floyd said to her after the first day at Central, “ Now You’ve had your lesson. You don’t have to go back to that awful school anymore.” Not only were they catching hell from the whites, they were catching just as much from the blacks as well. After the first day in the school being taunted and mistreated they could have not gone back. They put up a fight, as far as integration goes- they would not take no for an

William Attaway’s novel, Blood on the Forge, displays a family torn apart as a product of systematic exploitation. In the compelling narrative, the Moss brothers, Big Mat, Chinatown, and Melody, migrate to the north in motivation of Big Mat committing the murder of his riding boss. As they begin to adjust, their perception of the north’s assumed and rumored opportunities quickly conforms to the reality of what is actually offered. Through plot lines of the very act of migrating, acclimating to regenerated labor and norms, and, finally, the dissolution of the brothers’ identities and close family connection, it is observed that their exodus to the north is just as empty of benefits as the south. Attaway accomplishes depicting an accurate account of the contrasting exploitation that occurred in both the north and the south by portraying the Moss brothers’ demise as a result of their migration from a systematic, rural setting to an industrial, diminishing, and, ultimately, unfamiliar environment along with how the two regions parallel in similarities concerning economical and social consequences, permanently affecting the brothers altogether mentally and physically. Where there was great potential for a rebirth of opportunity and success, the result was a contrasting reality of misery and permanent damage.

The brothers who are mostly black can point to racial discrimination as a cause of their family’s poverty. Also another reason the hallway hangers reject the achievement ideology is because most of them have lived in low icome housing for as long as three decades as a result, this contributes to their feeling of hopelessness and stagnation they are pessimistic about their future. The brothers however, have resided at the Clarendon Heights neighbourhood for shorter periods of time. Some of the families of the brothers have moved from worse projects in the area, so they view this change as a step up in their social status and a sense of optimism for a fresh start. After the post modern shift from from manufacting jobs to service industry based employment many members of poorer black neighborhoods will feel the effects harder and longer then that of gentrified or white neighborhoods. Most service industry or “blue collered” jobs require some skills or education to be sucessful, as a result of neither group possesses these qualities, they are cast out as abaondoned by soceity. “The American Dream” may be but a mirage. Still, it

As told through different people’s stories and Elijah’s perspective, they explain that because of their state in class experiencing poverty is the reason for their current lifestyle. These families are further prone to facing illness, depression, job loss, death, criminal victimization or even eviction. The parents who face the hard economic times can make them retributive or uneven, trying to demand their needs backed with punishments, insults or threats. The results are mainly due to the loss of jobs. Industries that these families have held jobs to have shut down and relocated out of the inner city. However, it’s difficult for them to acquire these jobs since many require advanced education or don’t pay enough causing a high unemployment rate, especially when these African Americans are dependent on welfare and trapped in the inner-city ghettos. There’s also been a significant increase in numbers of single women in poverty alone, mainly as single mothers. The feminization of poverty has affected African-American women more than any other group. Because of this, it can be related to numerous changes in contemporary America. Increases in unwanted births, separations, and divorces have forced growing numbers of women to lead destitute households. Within these divorces, fathers are avoiding child support coupled with reduction in welfare support have forced the women-headed households to

How can you start from the bottom and rise to the top, but still not be on top? The strength of African Americans over the years is outstanding, but I will it ever be good enough. From discrimination, starvation, Jim Crow, the lack of the right to vote, and job deprivation, came The Great Migration. The Great Migration is one of the most historical periods in America. People, mainly African Americans, departed the southern region of the United States, to relocate in the Northern region of the United States for various reasons. To name a few, discrimination, racism, but mainly for employment. However, was relocating worth it? Was it really a difference ? We will find out. In Blood on the Forge,the author, William Attaway, introduces reader to three men, the Moss brothers. Attaway, emotionally connects with his characters, taking readers on a crusade through one of the most historical periods in United States history, The Great Migration. This journey sets off in the deep roots of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the early 1900 's. Tag along as we venture through the emotion and hardships of the Moss brothers story.

One of the most important elements of this story is the setting. Taking place in the drug-plagued, poverty-stricken, and frustrated streets of Harlem in the 1950s, the setting

A main factor in the storyline is the way the writer portrays society's attitude to poverty in the 18th century. The poor people were treated tremendously different to higher classed people. A lot of people were even living on the streets. For example, "He picked his way through the hordes of homeless

The book takes place in the 1940s in mostly the plantation outside of Bayonne, Louisiana, and parts of the book take place in Bayonne, Louisiana. Bayonne is a larger town of about six thousand with all services and buildings for whites uptown, and all those for blacks in the back of town. There were schools, movie theaters, and nightclubs in both the white and black sides of town, but the

The novel is set in the twenties, following World War I. The economy is booming, which is crucial for the ability to convey the themes of the American Dream and post-war moods. Set in New York City, the book opens in the West Egg, a new money part of the upper class neighborhoods.

Herbert Deans’ brother had died and they were very close, this had caused depression in the house hold for many years. Around 15 to 16 years old Walter had to go and get a job to take care of his family because his mother had become stressed and depressed in which she had stared to drink. During those times Walter had been wanting a type writer that he had seen and been working shifts and saving his money with his mother so that she could take care until the time came for Walter to go and buy his type writer. His mother had spent all the money on numbers and she had lost, Walter got upset and wouldn’t talk to her which made her drink more. This book is about someone’s life, a real life and in that time it was hard for people with darker skin to live in our country with cruelty of