Between the World and Me

Content Warning: This section of the guide features references to racially-motivated violence and murder, specifically lynching.

The speaker presents racial hatred and mob violence at its most ugly and extreme. The scene unfolds gradually, as the horrified speaker puts together in his mind the gruesome events that happened in the wood clearing. He is able to imaginatively enter the victim’s body and his state of mind; thus, the murder is presented, in effect, from the victim’s point of view.

A white mob—made up of those bent on violence as well as others who come to watch and gloat and antagonize the others (like the sex worker who wears red lipstick)—seizes the Black man and the chase ends. The mob strips him and beats him bloody. People are shouting, urging the attackers on, and feeling righteous in their anger. They want to see the man burnt alive. He cries out but his voice cannot be heard in the din. He is covered with hot tar that tears at his skin, and the feathers enter raw flesh, compounding his pain. The scene is created with stark imagery that is neither poetic nor subtle but vividly descriptive of the mob, the man, and the natural environment.