With a title like “The Lynching” you wouldn’t presume it would be a joyous poem and when you continue to read it most definitely is not. This poem includes the cultural differences and commonalities with the impact of an historical event in which is greatly schocking. The opening line of “His spirit in smoke ascended to the high heave,” states that as he was being burned his spirit left his body during the cruel act of punishment.
For the time period lynching was very common place. You can see that it isn’t out of the ordinary from this quote: “ The women thronged to look, but never a one showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue.” Women just stood there in the mob of people and didn’t have an ounce of sympathy for the man hanging from the tree. It continues: “ And the little lads, lynchers that were to be, danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee.” This quote depicts someone be hung and it hardly even phases the children because they see this probably every day of their lives. They too would grow up to become lynchers.
I’ve seen pictures of the lynchings in my history class and couldn’t believe that there was literally no expression on the viewers faces almost as if they are going to watch a show and nothing was wrong. We hear stories about what it was like to live in those days but have it put in front of you really takes you back in time to a place of inhumanity.
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