An Analysis Of The Book The Beautiful Struggle
Kaitlin Ricks
Professor Helm
English 101
27 September 2013
The Struggle between Father and Son In the memoir, The Beautiful Struggle, Ta-Nehisi Coates and his father’s relationship progresses greatly throughout the novel. One of the factors that builds and also breaks this relationship is tough love. Ta-Nehisi’s father is very hard on him to become street smart. As Ta-Nehisi is growing up, he struggles to take on the aspects of being street smart. Through tough love and corporal punishment, his father tries to teach him lessons, but these lessons also causes a break in their bond. Ta-Nehisi and his father have a strong bond when it comes to education. He teaches him about the African American culture and immerses him in education through his job at Howard University, but Mr. Coates struggles in teaching Ta-Nehisi to become street smart. Ta-Nehisi loses his keys at school because the kids took them from him. His dad gets his belt as way to intimidate him so he does not lose them again. “I bring this here to intimidate…. Then he dropped the belt on the brown carpet and started swinging” (68). Ta-Nehisi’s father wants him to become more street smart so that he does not get beat up or taunted. His father sees that his son’s upbringing is similar to his own. He lived in a dangerous area but did not grasp the knowledge to navigate the streets. His father uses corporal punishment to enforce the toughness that he believes Ta-Nehisi needs to survive the streets of Baltimore. Throughout the memoir, there is a sense of fear that Ta-Nehisi has for his father. This fear also transfers to his education. Ta-Nehisi gets grades that are not up to his father’s standards, which results in a beating. His father finds out that he is acting out in school and sits in on his classes to make sure he is behaving. Ta-Nehisi starts to rebel more against his father’s educational goals he has set for him. The tough love method that his father has been using is no longer effective as
Professor Helm
English 101
27 September 2013
The Struggle between Father and Son In the memoir, The Beautiful Struggle, Ta-Nehisi Coates and his father’s relationship progresses greatly throughout the novel. One of the factors that builds and also breaks this relationship is tough love. Ta-Nehisi’s father is very hard on him to become street smart. As Ta-Nehisi is growing up, he struggles to take on the aspects of being street smart. Through tough love and corporal punishment, his father tries to teach him lessons, but these lessons also causes a break in their bond. Ta-Nehisi and his father have a strong bond when it comes to education. He teaches him about the African American culture and immerses him in education through his job at Howard University, but Mr. Coates struggles in teaching Ta-Nehisi to become street smart. Ta-Nehisi loses his keys at school because the kids took them from him. His dad gets his belt as way to intimidate him so he does not lose them again. “I bring this here to intimidate…. Then he dropped the belt on the brown carpet and started swinging” (68). Ta-Nehisi’s father wants him to become more street smart so that he does not get beat up or taunted. His father sees that his son’s upbringing is similar to his own. He lived in a dangerous area but did not grasp the knowledge to navigate the streets. His father uses corporal punishment to enforce the toughness that he believes Ta-Nehisi needs to survive the streets of Baltimore. Throughout the memoir, there is a sense of fear that Ta-Nehisi has for his father. This fear also transfers to his education. Ta-Nehisi gets grades that are not up to his father’s standards, which results in a beating. His father finds out that he is acting out in school and sits in on his classes to make sure he is behaving. Ta-Nehisi starts to rebel more against his father’s educational goals he has set for him. The tough love method that his father has been using is no longer effective as