Sample Essay On Champion OF The World

Religious studies

Angelou, in “Champion of the World,” makes an unswerving connection between the outcome of the fight and pride of the African American race. It was not just another ordinary match; she makes it sound as if the honor of the whole race depended upon the result of that boxing match. To her it was not just Joe winning a boxing contest and retaining his title, it was bigger than that. The outcome of the match was a manifestation that the son of a black woman, a Negro child was declared once again the strongest man in the world. She related the victory of the black boxer with the victory of the whole African American race. It was not just the title of the world heavyweight championship that was on the line, the pride of all the colored people was on the line too. It was not the victory for Joe alone; it was the victory for the whole race that he represented.
Angelou was not alone with such views, in fact; her enthusiasm was equally shared by the people present in that store. For all the people present in that store, it was not a fight for just a boxing title it was a fight for their pride. Their reactions throughout the fight depict that their views regarding the match and its outcome were not much different from that of the author’s. They all felt miserable when it appeared that Joe might lose the battle and they exclaimed with passion whenever Joe dominated his opponent. The extent of their involvement in the contest and in its outcome manifests that for them as well, like the author, it was more than just a boxing match.
Though the outcome of the fight meant a lot for the colored people, the statements in paragraphs 16 and 17 are to depict the intensity of involvement of the listeners of the stores and are not used in the literal sense by the author. The statements are used metaphorically to express the feelings of the author and those surrounding her. The function of the statements in the narrative is to shed the light on the tortured history of the African American people and to the reason why they related the outcome of the fight to the pride of the whole race. However, even if Joe had lost it would not have sent the colored people back into the slavery, so the statements are metaphoric in nature.