Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter

Nobel Prize Laureate Bob Dylan tells the story of wrongfully convicted Rubin “Hurricane” Carter through this poetic song, the content and structure of which allows Dylan to analyze the racial profiling and discrimination which defined this time period, and affected the African-American race as a whole.

Dylan’s partial narrative of this poem plays a crucial role in fully understanding the events that occurred. The narrative is obviously a defense of the fighter Rubin Carter, shown through the second to last stanza: “Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell, An innocent man in a living hell”. Though this song is mostly historically accurate and praised as an effective method of protest against racism, parts of it such as these lines are
controversial, as Dylan doesn’t account for Carter’s “antagonistic rhetoric, criminal history, violent temper”, as described by Dylan’s biographer Howard Sounes.
Another instance in which Dylan’s narrative can come off as partial occurs in the fifth stanza, in which Dylan refers to Carter as the “Number one contender for the middleweight crown”, in the sense of professional fighting. There is good reason for Dylan to use this language as it contributes to the undeniable concept that Carter had incredible potential, which was only wasted in the “prison cell” that Dylan brings up repetitively. However, at the time Carter was ranked as the number nine competitor for the contest, according to the May 1966 issue of The Ring. One final example of Dylan’s narrative being controversial is how he depicts Carter as defenseless against his suppressors, as in the 17th stanza: “The trial was a pig-circus. He never had a chance”. Though this claim is
historically accurate, it creates scepticism in the eyes of the reader as it refutes Carter’s nature as being persistent and anything but defenseless, due to his profession of fighting. These are examples of how the literary device of narrative can come off as biased, and consequently discredit the work on some level.

Dylan is an expert at utilising literary devices in his works to help the reader understand the message of those pieces, a crucial reason for why he became the second singer ever to win a Nobel Prize for literature.
One device that he emphasized in particular in this piece is the synecdoche. Dylan doesn’t expect everyone who hears this song to be familiar with the justice system and inhabitants of Carter’s hometown of New Jersey, so generalizes those things so that they are familiar to everyone. The character Miss. Patty Valentine makes an entrance in the first stanza, and over the span of the next three stanzas, she acts as an innocent bystander in the sense that she didn’t commit the crime, but guilty in the sense that she did not report Bello being at the crime scene to the police, consequently allowing the cops to pin whoever they want for the crime. Ms. Patty Valentine represents the millions of Americans who did nothing about the racism and discrimination which defined their country until the 1960s. Similarly, Rubin Carter represents the entirety of the African-American race, subject to racial discrimination for hundreds of years, partially defining their culture. In the second-to-last stanza, Dylan sings, “Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise”. This group of criminals surely depicts Southerners who were key instruments in the act of racism dating back to the Civil War, but more generally symbolizes
violations of human rights worldwide. Finally, Rubin’s biased trial in the seventeenth stanza represents our corrupt government in the first half of the 19th century.

Though the possibility of this song granting Rubin Carter his freedom was slim, Dylan’s use of the literary device of persuasion at least questions the authenticity of Carter’s multiple trials. Dylan’s very persuasive language is made possible by his master of rhetoric, or an effective use of words. Dylan uses no unnecessary words in this song, stating a clear point and purpose of each stanza, whether that be calling out the corruption of cops and the New Jersey justice system, spotlighting the lies of characters such as Bello and Bradley, or proving the likelihood the Carter committed none of the alleged crimes due to his strong character and set of morals. Rather than focussing on just one of three methods of persuasion, Dylan’s work exemplifies Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Dylan, a highly awarded artist and generally well-respected one due to his set of morals and supporter of humanities as shown in this song among many other protest pieces. Dylan uses this credibility to convince his audience that he knows best regarding racial equality due to his vast experience working with African-Americans such as Carter. In the sixteenth stanza, Dylan uses Pathos by writing: “Up to some paradise. Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice. And ride a horse along a trail. But then they took him to the jailhouse Where they tried to turn a man into a mouse.” This place Dylan writes about pleases our minds and helps us to escape from the chaos of everyday life, invoking emotion from the audience. The persuasion method of Logos is the most effective one in this song as it forces the audience to closely exam the validity of the allegations made against Rubin, namely in Dylan’s direct accusations of corruption of the justice system and police force.