The Little Black Bloy, By William Blake

3 Pages 859 Words

Experience through Innocence in “The Little Black Boy”

William Blake’s “A Little Black Boy” was written at a time in English history when the slave trade was important to the countries economic strengths and anti-slavery sentiment was growing. The poem expresses innocence lost and the impact of life’s experience on a young black boy. The poem begins with the black boy lamenting the fact that he sees himself as being without light and sees the white boy as an angel. The black boy questions his mother as to why his skin is not white. Her reply in a form of protection transforms the black boy’s thoughts and he begins to see himself as being superior to the white boy. This is in direct contrast with the image of the white English child. The poem continues with the child’s mother assuring the child that he falls under God’s light as all God’s creatures do.
Due to slavery the little black boy notices a difference in skin tone. He doesn’t see whites and blacks as equals; he knows that there is clearly an inequality among the races. In the first stanza, the difference is shown were the white boy is thought to be an angel. He is white because he is pure. On the other hand, the black boy sees himself as being mourned of light. The fact that he recognizes that he is different detracts from his innocence and weaves in the way life impacts his perception of himself.
The black boy then questions his mother as to why his skin is different. In the mother’s teaching she is trying to protect the little black boy. In doing this she says that his black skin is a form of protection. And that he will shade the white boy as a cloud from the sun. The sun being an image of God is good and provides heat, light, and comfort allowing things to grow but also at the same time the sun can burn you. The mother also tells the black boy that his skin color also shows that he is closer to God because God chose him to bear ...