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Wheatley's Redemption

 

            
             "On Being Brought from Africa to America," by Phyllis Wheatley is a poem about .
             For Wheatley, slavery is a positive experience because it has brought her closer .
             to God's mercy. Living as a slave in early America, much of her poetry is about her relationship .
             with God. In this work, Wheatley describes slavery as a process of redemption rather than the .
             horrid experience one might expect.
             One of the ways Wheatley gives slavery a positive connotation is through diction. She .
             uses words such as "mercy," "redemption," "God," and "savior" to show how she values God.
             For example, Wheatley associates the redemption process with learning, using words like .
             "understand" and "taught." She even says that "mercy" brought her to America. Wheatley also .
             wants to become an angel and a Christian. She grows to believe in the goodness of her being a .
             slave because this is what she is told. .
             Wheatley also uses her biblical knowledge to show the reader how slavery can change .
             one's life in a positive way. She uses this knowledge to add to the poem with an allusion--a .
             reference to a historical or fictional event or person. Wheatley's allusion is to the Bible story .
             about Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel out of jealousy, but God marked Cain forever so that .
             people would know that he was evil. Wheatley compares black people to Cain because other .
             Christians look at them as "diabolic." She does not want to be seen that way. She tells white .
             Christians that black people like her can be "refined"--or made to be like them. Blacks can .
             become "angelic" too and not stay marked like Cain. But, this can only happen with God, so she .
             is glad that she's been taught about her "Savior." .
             Now that Wheatley is in America, she sees only the negative aspects about her life before .
             slavery. She calls Africa a "pagan land," and she tells the reader that her soul is "benighted." .
             Wheatley wants to free herself of her past by being "refined" so that she can become a better .


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