# The Afterthought explained — The Souls of Black Folk

> Chapter companion for The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

The voice of the prayer, addressing God the Reader and pleading for the book's impact.

## Key lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/chapters/the-afterthought
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_souls_of_black_folk_se/chapters