DuBois and Washington: Realism in Fiction Essay

In both DuBois work, The Souls of grisly Folk, and capital of the United Statess work, Up from Slavery, the reader is presented with viewpoints of emancipation from the oppressive slaveholding of being controlled under the harmful influences of the white elite. The stories of rising above wizs personal struggle and finding freedom during a term corrupt with racism and classism are illustrated by both authors. In schooling these tales, ace is presented with a picture of the importance of the black person, with the spiritual excursion in finding personal meaning and pride in an surround of hatred and misunderstanding.While DuBois presents the black situation somewhat like a folktale, with more instances of fiction being woven throughout the reality of the work, upper-case letter presents a work more related to nonfiction, with stronger portions of realism which strengthens the truth of his writing. The demeanor Dubois crafts his tale is one of passion and imagery, beautiful prose with aims to serve the spirits as oftentimes as the intellect. However, in this way, he is prone to flights of fancy and wandering from realism and the important points of affable justice.Although he describes his own personal situation preferably well and in colorful detail, one is sometimes left question about his point, whether he is aiming to make a strong plowshare to a cause or a simply a strong contri only whenion to the love of painting with words. He writes that the social walls were straight and stubborn to the whitest, but relentlessly tall, narrow, and unscalable to sons of night who must plod darkly on in resignation (8).Although theres beauty here, one notes an element of self pity and ignorance of the true social movement of his time, the flight into fantasy and rejection of realism. Washington is more apt to speak plainly, with a somewhat intractable sense of realism in his aim to produce a nonfictional autobiography. Facts are given out in abundance, o bjective truths which the reader slew surely hold and place in a sense of certain reality. He describes his own life and pursuits in fairly stark detail, promoting a sense of uprising and a simple yet eloquent narrative of his own personal journey.In a quote about his father, Washington states that he was an unfortunate victim of the institution which the nation unhappily had grafted upon it at that time (3). While the reader can ascertain a sense of reality in his picture of his father and the national social situation, one is still left somewhat disturbed by the lack of a true sense of outrage in the governmental situation, the lack of social justice, and the contribution of his own father to the oppressive regime.While Washington presents his tale more realistically than DuBois, both men could have presented their tales with more assure sense of the ethical dilemma of their time, sparked with a true sense of need in aiming for social justice. Works Cited DuBois, W. (2007). T he Souls of Black Folk. Oxford University Press. Washington, B. (1986). Up from slavery. Penguin Classics.