It is a concept far too complex to attempt to limit to a single paragraph, but the fundamental idea is efficiently expressed in the words of Du Bois himself here which become an epigraph preceding Part IX of this book. If it can be said that Du Bois is famous for just one single thing, it would almost certainly be-arguably, of course-his concept of “double-consciousness” within the paradigm of race relations in America. One ever feels his two-ness, an American, a Negro two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.

Du Bois remains a major figure in the history of the civil rights movement as well as the history of American literature and coming to the book without knowing at least something about that legacy would be a real shame. While it is not impossible to imagine a reader picking up the book who is completely unfamiliar with Du Bois, the far more likely consequence is that those who are interested in the one will be interested in the other. That prefatory moment leading into Root’s recollection is what makes this quote important because it is a question that deserves to be asked of reader of the book. Just before this quote, Uncle Root asks, Ailey, the narrator who is recalling the conversation whether he has ever told this story before and then, offhandedly, inquires whether Ailey is familiar with Du Bois. After that, I just kept borrowing every book by Du Bois that Mr. He loaned me his copy of Darkwater and told me to be careful with it. Terrence Carter Holmes, and there used to be all these rumors he was communist. At Routledge, I had a professor who loved himself some Du Bois. The school at Red Mound didn’t go past eighth grade back then-that wouldn’t happen for a very long time. I was fifteen, and my father sent me there. “I entered Routledge College in the fall of 1922. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

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