Q: How far and what ways does ‘The Little Black Boy’ question conventional attitudes? The poem has a real political intent as Blake questions some of the conventional attitudes within his time. In the poem he describes the racial segregation found not only o nly between people within his society, but illustrates its profound effects on innocent children as well. ‘The Little Black Boy’ was published in 1789, a time when slavery was still legal and the campaign for the abolition of slavery was still young. Blake specifically focuses on two young boys who are different in race. The use of o f ‘black’ and ‘white’ directly links to the physical differences between the two boys, and the fact that these colours co lours are contraries emphasises how different the two boys’ childhoods are, all due to racial prejudice. It suggests that they are not only different in appearance but in how they live their life and perceive things. For example, we can clearly see that the black boy makes all the positive gestures; he is genuinely good and seeks to protect the white boy, ‘I’ll shade him from the heat’. The black boy seems to be spiritually superior in comparison with the white boy; however, in terms of society it appears that the black boy is in servitude. Traditionally, ‘white’ was associated with good whereas ‘black’ was associated with evil – this was prevalent during Blake’s society. The contrast between ‘black’ and ‘white’ also creates a boundary between the body (‘I am black’) and the soul (‘but oh my soul is white!’). They have been separated into two entities. Blake believed in the equality of everyone, and he had an extremely negative view of the church because he saw hypocrisy in their Christian practices. Even inside the church, there were specific seating arrangements to ensure that white and black people were separated. Instead of trying to help rid of this unfair racial segregation, they in turn went along with society’s expectations and conventional attitudes towards black people. Blake further questions the conventions of his time using once again basic Christian ideals. It becomes more apparent in the third stanza, where Blake uses the sun as a metaphor for God and his place of heaven. The deliberate pun on the word ‘sun’ suggests because her son’s ‘soul is white’ he deserves to go to God’s Kingdom; this is reinforced by the word ‘rising’, which denotes change. The fact that Blake speaks of ‘black bodies’ and a ‘sunburnt face’ in the fourth stanza seems to imply that black people are nearer to God as a result of their suffering – for one can only become dark and sunburned as a result of being exposed to the sun's rays. This would have produced a provocative response from readers during the eighteenth century, as the white race was upheld in a more superior view compared to the black race. The idea is further developed in the final stanza, as the black boy says he will ‘shade him’ (the white boy) ‘from the heat’, this implies that the English boy's pale skin is no t used to the heat (derived from God's love). One interpretation of this idea includes that the paleness of the English boy is symbolic of the fact that the English were distanced from God because of their treatment of the black peoples. Blake makes use of two voices in the poem one belonging to the little black boy and the other belonging to his mother. The mother, despite having no sort of formal education, has a deep insight and bears no bitterness towards the racial prejudice she and her son is subjected to. Her voice is retrospective as the little black boy reminiscences her love and her teachings. It seems that the black boy has had a difficult and hard life, and it is only because of his mother’s consolation that he sees things in a
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more positive light. She ensures that his suffering would become a source of pride rather than shame. In the fourth and fifth stanzas, the mother persuades her son, according to conventional Christian doctrine, that earthly life is but a preparation for the rewards of heaven. In this context, their dark skin is merely a temporary appearance, with no bearing on their eternal essence. The black boy internalises his mother's lesson and applies it in his relations with the outer world; specifically, Blake shows us what happens when the boy applies it to his relationship with a white child. The results are ambivalent. The boy explains to his white friend that they are equals, but that neither will be truly free until released from the harsh prejudice existing in the physical world. In the fifth stanza, we see humanity being united, ‘For when our souls have learn’d the heat to bear, / The cloud will vanish...’ This metaphor is continued in the sixth stanza, ‘When I from black cloud and he from white cloud are free’. Here, Blake uses the clouds as a metaphor for the human body. These stanzas therefore imply that after physical life has passed, all will be united with God. Despite receiving warmth and love from his mother, the last line, ‘he will then love me’ suggest that the black boy wants a companion or friend that is similar in age. Due to society’s racial prejudice, children of Blake’s time who are of different in race have been prevented from interacting or mixing. Although Blake focuses on the mental state of the black boy, bo y, the fact that he hopes the white boy ‘will then love [him]’ shows that the white boy has already begun be gun to think he is on a different level to the black boy. It seems his innocence and pure naive thinking has been tainted. The word ‘lamb’ symbolically represents innocence, purity and sacrifice. Like a lamb being sacrificed, only upon death it seems, that these two children can be restored with their innocence and be find themselves equal in each eac h other’s eyes, which is denied by the slave system. We could say however, that the little black boy's outlook and his deference to the white boy make him naïve and blind to the realities of oppression and racism, and shows his highly passive acceptance of its result: suffering and injustice. The child's mother symbolises a natural and selfless love that becomes the poem's ideal. It reveals that regardless of someone’s skin colour is, they are still a human being and are made in God’s image. Blake agreed with Rousseau on liberalisation and encouraging children to learn through creativity. Blake challenges conventional attitudes once again, although this time it is on the education system of the eighteenth century. Society had a harsh and negative view on children, as described in ‘The Chimney Sweeper’. Children who were not part of o f the upper class often started to work from a young age, they lived a tough childhood and often had to grow up early. Upper class children would be educated, yet they also suffered through the strict, harsh and very repressed teaching methods used. Blake's use of politically neutral colours such as gold and silver when describing things of moral value, in terms of spirituality and wisdom are anointed with colours that are indifferent to race and social class, yet are related to financial status, as gold and silver evoke images of precious metals. By questioning the conventional attitude towards racism, hence challenging the existence of black enslavement, Blake was essentially questioning one of the financial structures Britain was built on. Slavery was the foundation in which rich society existed on, including the industry sector. If the business of slavery were removed, it would have had huge economic impacts during Blake’s time.
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During the eighteenth century, conventional attitudes towards different races w ere harsh, and it did not help with the lack of support from the church. One of Blake’s main purposes in his poem ‘The Little Black Boy’ was appealing for racial and religious tolerance. Humans must respect the image of God in each other, regardless of apparent differences and division.
Sources: http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/blake/section4.rhtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Black_Boy Phillip Allan Updates – As/A level student guide, Songs o f Innocence and Experience by William Blake
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