Between the world and me discussion questions - The body by Samuel Gooden

These are our specific examples of Coates talking about the body and how it helps his larger argument.

s6059270 — 2024-03-20 16:45:14 UTC

Example #1

s6059270 — 2024-03-20 16:45:59 UTC

Our quote: “There the boy stood, with the gun brandished, which he slowly untucked, tucked, then untucked once more, and in his small eyes I saw a surging rage that could, in an instant, erase my body.” (Page 19)

This section from the book helps Coates larger argument because it tells us about the dangers of standing out and making a difference and how easily the body could be taken away.

Example #2

s6059270 — 2024-03-20 16:55:33 UTC

Page: 18. The quote from the text: “It does not matter if the agent of those factors is white or black—what matters is our condition ,what matters is the system that makes your body breakable.”

Coates explains how being in America with a black body means having to break it.

Example #3

s6059270 — 2024-03-20 16:57:50 UTC

The Quote on page 20 says “I knew that West Baltimore where i lived; that the north side of Philadelphia where my cousins lived; that the south side of Chicago, where friends of my father lived, comprised a world apart. Somewhere out there beyond the firmament, past the asteroid belt, there were other worlds where children did not regularly fear for their bodies.”

This quote helps his larger argument by showing us that the children with a black body walk around fearing for their lives everyday while white children don’t have that worry and have their eyes set on the American dream.