Social Issues Addressed by McBride Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

James Smith
Professor Grant
ENG 102
Date: 24th February 2017
Social Issues Addressed by McBride
James McBride is a renowned American novelist. One of his best works is Song Yet Sung (2009). McBride employs the skill of hiding themes based on the society in plain sight. To an open minded person, the book addresses a lot. Song Yet Sung is a platform used by McBride to address the nature of society. He does this by integrating dreams of the future and narrating the lives of various characters among them Patty Cannon and Liz Spocott. According to McBride’s Song Yet Sung, society is faced with many issues, the ultimate being kindness, and humanity.
Humanity is a contemporary subject that has been there since time immemorial. Society is defined as good or bad by how the people constituting it treat each other. McBride through a clever plot in the book Song Yet Sung illustrates the level of humanity in our society. Using prophecy as a style, McBride takes the readers to the future showing society as it is. His presentation of the book drives the point on society’s level of humanity home. An example is where he gruesomely describes Liz’s injury from a shot by Little George, “The swelling in her head increased, then changed color from red to brown to purple to an off orange.” (McBride 2)The ultimate question is, how is humanity an issue in society?
A slave by the name Liz Spocott escaped a sexually abusive master and ran off to Maryland in hopes of refuge. Patty Cannon, a ruthless captor of black folks, gets her hands on Liz (McBride 19). Patty Cannon locks Liz up in the attic of her tavern, where Liz meets fellow captured blacks. During her stay here, Liz is raped by one of Patty Cannon’s accomplices, and she stabs him with a pike. (McBride 9). Liz is a case example of how society lets down many who expect a good turn from the world. Society fails Liz due to the inhumane character of her previous master. She runs away to seek solace but once more the inhumane nature of Patty Cannon leads to Liz going back to bondage. As if this is not enough, Liz is raped by a black man, whom naturally is expected to relate to Liz’s situation.
Liz Spoccot has a gift of dreaming about the future hence the nickname, "the Dreamer". Liz dreamt about a future of free black men. “Negroes driving horseless carriages on shiny rubber wheels with music booming throughout, and fat black children who smoked odd-smelling cigars and walked around with pistols in their pockets and murder in their eyes. She dreamed ... of colored men dressed in garish costumes like children, playing odd sporting games and bragging like drunkards — every bit of pride, decency, and morality squeezed clean out of them.” (McBride 9). Her dream s...