As my eyes passed through the black and white pages, the exhaustion I felt was
getting stronger and stronger. Keeping my eyes open was a struggle, since they
seemed to weigh a ton. I was irked by the content of this literary work, but
suddenly, a brief description of what seemed to be a perfect environment for for
just about anyone, “like a Greek temple,” received my full attention. I saw
a black man standing helplessly in a field at a time intolerance, racism, and
hatred prevailed amongst society. The description of this colossal residence
given by this helpless man, named Giddeon, expressed his desire for this
“safe- haven,” but yet I also sensed sorrow in between the lines of this
description. The reason for this is that a man of his nature was politically and
socially unable to pursue his dreams and hopes during that period of time. This
cruel treatment which Giddeon was forced to encounter made me wonder how
passionately he felt about modifying his standard of living, as well as, his
future. It also made me ponder about how much anger and vengefulness was
manifesting deep down in his heart. Would his anger be expressed through actions
or would he express it through silent rebellions which intern would transform
his political and social standings in society. My exhaustion resulted in
enthusiasm. This enthusiasm crushed my feeling of fatigue and I was tempted to
read on. I soon discovered that Giddeons', frustrations forced him to take
action to better his standing in society as well as for others in similar
situations. I wonder if he was successful in modifying his life-style. I
realized that his passion was greater than that of the white mans’ hatred,
which was attempting to restrain him from succeeding. Giddeons’ increased
participation in politics enabled him to improve his life. For example his fight
for the Land Division Bill which was, “to take great rebel plantations, break
them down, and give each freedman forty acres and fifty dollars for a
homestead.” The great description given by Giddeon of the residence in the
past was not his own, but now he would be able to describe his very own
“safe-haven.”