The Souls of Black Folk · Chapter
The Afterthought explained
A prayerful epilogue in which the narrator implores God that his book may inspire thought and righteous action, lamenting the hypocrisy of human brotherhood in a time of national guilt.
What happens
A prayerful epilogue in which the narrator implores God that his book may inspire thought and righteous action, lamenting the hypocrisy of human brotherhood in a time of national guilt.
Themes in this chapter
The Sorrow Songs
The prayerful, spiritual tone echoes the sorrow songs' longing for deliverance and justice.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
The voice of the prayer, addressing God the Reader and pleading for the book's impact.
Key passages
“Hear my cry, O God the Reader; vouchsafe that this my book fall not stillborn into the world wilderness.”
Listen to my plea, O Reader as God; grant that this book not be born dead into a barren world.
The narrator invokes the reader as a divine witness, hoping the book will have life and purpose.
“Let the ears of a guilty people tingle with truth, and seventy millions sigh for the righteousness which exalteth nations, in this drear day when human brotherhood is mockery and a snare.”
May a guilty nation be stung by truth, and may its millions yearn for the righteousness that uplifts nations, in this dark time when brotherhood is a hollow pretense and a trap.
A call for national awakening to the hypocrisy of proclaimed brotherhood amid racial oppression.