In Dudley Randall's poem "Ballad Of Birmingham" he presents an idea of ​​how the normal lifestyle of a mother and daughter can take a turn worse due to racial injustice. effect in the United States in the 1960s. The Birmingham church bombing was carried out by the Klu Klux Klan because it was unwilling to accept the recently integrated neighborhoods of its city, due to the growing popularity of fighting against racial injustice. Four innocent children were killed in the attack, urging Americans to pay attention to racial violence that is killing young people who are still unable to understand the danger imposed on them since they are only teenagers. This event gained national attention and helped the civil rights movement gain momentum as the general public only thought about the discrimination against African American adults, but the images of young children being burdened by these acts of blood deeply moved them and inspired them to act. In this poem, a naive child asks her mother if she can attend the march through the streets of Birmingham, but her mother is reluctant to let her do so because she knows the the dangers and atrocities that occur at many of these marches, and she feels irresponsible of her to allow her child to join this march and put him at risk of assault during the event. She informs her child of several dangers that arise in the midst of these defiant episodes, but despite what her mother tells her, the child insists that she let her go because her friends will accompany her along the way. . The mother is afraid that her daughter will be harmed and insists that she go to a church instead because it is a blessed institution, and she is sure that no harm will come to her while she is there. Shortly after her child leaves the house, the mother hears a deafening explosion and she runs into the streets to find her beloved daughter. She finds no remains of her daughter, except for one of the shoes she wore this morning. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayDudley Randall highlights the need to end racial discrimination throughout this poem by using imagery, symbolism, metaphors and irony as a means of depicting and persuading. his audience to act on the issue of civil rights. He also wants to influence people who are hesitant to join the fight because of the problematic outcome. Randall uses the dramatic nature of the situation, presented in the poem, to evoke the emotions of his audience by showing a trustworthy and innocent relationship between a mother and her daughter. Additionally, it takes a different perspective on a historical event to trick readers into believing that these scenes of cruelty are not just coming from an imaginary world, but are constantly occurring through the trials faced by African Americans. a daily basis. The attitude/tone directed in this poem is extremely dark and melancholic. The author's behavior with imagery, as well as other literary devices, illustrates the anguish he endured during the period of racial injustice. The author continues to stir up bitter feelings of grief, allowing the reader to see what horrors were committed on the daughter through the mother's response to the outburst. The poem argues that no establishment/place is safe when people's thoughts are polluted, and that anything can happen even when a person least expects it. Randall uses imagery and irony to help the readervisualize the events happening in the poem, synchronously evoking the emotion due to the unpleasantness of the poem taking place around the bombing incident. The poetic elements further give importance to what the poet is trying to achieve, allowing the reader to make connections with the objects and understand the paradox created from the meaning of the church. The writer states: For when she heard the explosion her eyes grew wet and wild, she ran through the streets of Birmingham calling for her child. This immediately gives the image of a mother in mourning because she was unable to find her child in all the dust and rumble caused by the bombings. This forces the reader to sympathize with the mother due to her desire to discover her daughter amidst the debris, and her watery eyes show a look of madness and irritation due to her internal feeling of panic caused by the sound of the 'blast. Mothers, who are part of the target audience for this poem, can relate to the feeling they are experiencing, as the idea of ​​losing your child can be heartbreaking for anyone, but it can be extremely difficult for a mother since they are the ones who carried the babies in their womb and who have been devoted to them since their birth. The mother's eyes express a sense of panic as the explosion indicates something is wrong, and her animal instincts come into full play as she tries to figure out if her daughter is safe or if she has been hurt. She is in a state of emergency to find her daughter as quickly as possible, because "she scratched pieces of glass and brick" because she cannot think clearly because her daughter is nowhere to be found. horrible experience through the mother's eyes, makes the reader want to comfort her to calm down, but deep down, the mother is inconsolable because her daughter is missing. The poet demonstrates irony by using the church as the place the mother tells her daughter to visit: "But you can go to church instead / And sing in the children's choir and her mother smiled to know his child / Was in the sacred place.” Church is supposed to be a holy place where no wrongdoing can occur, but in this case, an act of sin occurred there and it was far from a safe destination for the child. The mother wanted to convince her daughter to go to church to sing, instead of marching through the streets of Birmingham because of the riots that can cause during these events. She is afraid that something will happen to a small child in the middle of a huge crowd and does not know the safety precautions taken during one of these marches, which is why she refuses to risk the safety of her child . The irony is that the church will provide a safe haven for her daughter, while the march will not, but the events that occur after she leaves the house are the complete opposite of what the mother had planned. The child was killed during the fiery bombings and her participation in the march would have actually spared her life, making her much safer from the disaster that occurred. It was unexpected that a political assembly, where violence is likely to occur, would be a very safe place for the girl. It seems that one could imagine a church filled with purity and not evil, but the bombings took place there and showed how hatred and racism have no boundaries. To show the innocence of the little girl, the author uses forms of symbolism. and metaphors to cement the naive personality of an ordinary child, while he is unbeknownst to the corrupt world and just takes on the challenges one day at a time, without much consideration of the bad aspects of the life. The poet wants the girl to represent whatever.