Du Bois was very good at many traits for instance he was a civil rights activist, a professor of Sociology, a writer, and in addition to this, he also tried his hands at many more things. When he was 95 years of age, he became a citizen of Ghana. Du Bois actively involved himself in solving the long-standing problem of racism; he also aimed at equality and did a lot of things to ensure the existence of human rights. The souls of Black Folk is counted among the very finest works of his, the book deals with the sensitive issue of racism that still exists in various parts of the world. Du Bois successfully published as many as 4000 articles, essays, and books in his life span of 95 years. This paper will throw light upon one of his most prominent works, The Souls of Black Folk. An in-depth analysis of the book will be presented in this paper.
The Souls of Black Folk was published in the year 1903 and the book consists of fourteen chapters. The most exceptional thing about this book is that the Author has exceptionally started each chapter of the book with lines of poetry and bars of songs; this is unprecedented and certainly catches the eye of the reader. The book has stanzas of poetry by some of the most appreciated poets like Byron, Lowell, etc, so it is a good mix of American and European Poets together with the contribution of Du Bois which without a doubt stands out.
The Bars of songs used in the book are outstanding and represent the various achievements of African Americans. The author discusses the problem of the color line in the twentieth century; this problem is the highlight of the book. The color line refers to racism and it was a brilliant effort by the author to write a book on this topic. The author was a social activist and had many more qualities in him; the book is an example of how good he was when it came to writing and inspiring people. Racism was at its very peak at that time and authors like Du Bois did an excellent job by highlighting this issue which still exists in our society. James Weldon Johnson declared that the book had a significant impact on the Negro Race in America after but this was done 3o years after the book was published, this goes show the effect of the book, add to this it also goes to show the impact that Du Bois made by writing The Souls of Black Folk.
The book got a lot of adulation and respect and brought a significant change in the life of the Negroes, the book inspired them to toil hard and to rise intellectually so that they can live a better life, the same happened and the black freedom struggle began in the twentieth century. Du Bois certainly succeeded in all his endeavors, he aimed at bringing justice and equality in the society and he managed to achieve just that hence it is very fair to say that the book is flawless and highly inspiring especially for the oppressed people all across the globe.
References
Bois, W. E., & Edwards, B. H. (2008). The souls of Black folk. Oxford University Press.
