Speeches

At the beginning of the novel, the narrator was given the opportunity to deliver his high school graduation speech in front of the towns' leading white citizens. Before he gave his speech he endured  several physical fights and challenges. Throughout the obstacles he "had been going over my speech" (21). When he finally got his chance to speak he didn't care what pain he was suffering through; his "dry mouth, filling up with blood from the cut" (30) and "swallowed blood until I was nauseated" (30). The narrators speech was about idea of different races working together and "social responsibility" (30). The white crowd of loud and mocking white men gave him a hard time and kept shouting "Louder! Louder!" (29) and for him to "Repeat!" (31). Being under all the stress the narrator accidentally stated "equality" (31) which lead to hostile phrases yelled at him. The slip of the word "equality" reflects that the narrator had thought about it before his speech; that it was something deeply embedded in his heart if he had said that unconsciously. He had wanted to deliver his speech in front of them so badly because he "felt that only these men could truly judge my ability" (25). It was something he wanted to show his knowledge and ability to prove that the white citizens stereotype black people are like slaves is wrong. The narrators speech was a bold speech that most black people wouldn't address in front of white people.