Countee Cullen

1. The metaphor of the dark tower is significant because it represents a foreshadowing of the slaves eventually rising up in the future, while the white people will fall apart. It could also be a representation of a connection that the slaves made to their future. They knew that even though the white people had all the power and control over them at that point in time, they knew that it wouldn’t be like this forever. 2. The last two lines represent the underlying message that the slaves are aware of, which is that their conditions and struggles will not always be this way. They know they will not always be slaves, and that some day they too will have their opportunity to rise up against the white people that treated them so poorly for the entirety of their existence. 3. The title of “Incident” is ironic because to the boy, the situation he experienced was something much greater than an incident, but rather consumed a great amount of his thought. Between May through December, the boy is completely consumed with what seemed to be a minor encounter between two children of different races. So to call it something so insignificant as “Incident”, when it was so much more than an incident to him, makes the title ironic. 4. After reading this poem, I realized that the influence you have and the way you act towards other people is much more important and effective on them often then you are aware of. The one memory that the boy remembers is an insulting remark made by the other boy, and it stuck with him for so much time. Imagine if it would have been something positive that he said. The things we say can create such an impact, so it’s important to always be kind. 5. At the beginning of the poem, we see the main character as light-hearted, and optimistic of any expectations in the situation. However, as the situation continues, he later