In “A Looking Glass for the White Man”, William Apess expresses his dissatisfaction toward the hypocrisy of the white Christian. Apess finds it challenging to live in an order that condemns an “inferior race” by the color of their skin. He supports his claims by using a combination of valid and religious reasoning to appropriate the differences between Christians. The white Christians who live by the truths of Christianity neglect to give Indians respect and treat them as second-class citizens. It is appalling that they would believe to find themselves in heaven when, by the Bible, they would not be accepted there. By not only using Biblical references as one of many examples, Apess exposes those contradictions, thus encouraging his white audience to reconsider their ways and to begin living correspondingly to their beliefs. Apess begins his essay by asking the audience, “Why are we [Indians] not protected in our persons and property throughout the Union?” Here he questions the reasoning behind the dehumanization the Indian race. Not having the …show more content…
Those words are not what the Bible describes as those who are holy. This sentence is also an example of Apess using descriptive words to help the white man visualize what the Indians see in them. Here, the white man is using skin color as a reason to defend their actions of limiting the Indians rights. This makes what Apess is saying very direct, and to the point which can be seen through his choice of words such as self-esteemed, unalienable, and unfeeling. Apess also uses the phrase “pretend to take the skin as a pretext”, referring to how the whites are only taking from the Indians. This provides the reader with imagery of white Christians taking the Indians rights, and then taking over the Indians as a