NCHS AP English Language

Melissa Hampton Ch3 pawn essay

Dylan makes a point of expressing a certain kind of contempt for Byron de la Beckwith, the white southerner who fired the bullet that killed NAACP organizer Medgar Evers. Being a pawn means that they are incapable of moral choice. Byron de la Beckwith could be a pawn only in a metaphorical sense. The word 'pawn' comes from the same root as peasant, and denotes a humble foot-soldier. A pawn is on the front line of battle-the first to attack, and to die. To be a pawn is to serve as a front-line defender of the powerful, putting yourself at risk because you incorrectly believe, due to indoctrination and illusory benefits. A pawn shares at least one socially salient "objective" feature with both in-group (white wealthy men) and out-group (poor African Americans). The stigma of out-group membership is so strong; the desire to avoid is so intense, that instead of seeing more clearly, the pawn engages in outrageous displays of in-group membership. The poor white man shares gender and race with the in-group, and poverty and sometimes job description with the out-group. Beckwith believes that things have come to a head and all responsible citizens have to choose a side and fight. Beckwith has some control over whethere or not he can overcome the indoctrination, but the duress and poverty surely make it unsurprising that porr white men rarely do so. Beckwith is the weapon, not the murderer: a pwan, not a player. In the end, Dylan stops just short of altogether denying that pawns are morally respoinsible. in conclusion we can say that Byron de la Beckwith is indeed a pawn.

-typed by Ellen Wagner

posted by Ellen @ 8:17 AM