Symbolism of Boiling Water
We were able to see the symbolism of boiling water, as used by bell hooks (lowercase intentional) in one of her essays. In the essay, she argues in support of using rage as an instrument of change and that sometimes it is important to let rage control you. bell hooks states that in the past, people fighting for civil rights were often slowed down or stopped completely in their fight because of their passiveness. She further explains this through the symbolic use of a frog in boiling water. The symbolism of boiling water in this essay was social pressure. If you slowly add boiling water, steadily increasing the temperature, the frog will become accustomed to it and will not move. However, if you bring a lot of social pressure, by pouring a lot of boiling water, the frog will be startled and will be moved. bell hooks effectively uses the symbolism of boiling water to convey and support her stance.
Motif of Anger
One recurring motif that can be seen throughout the series of essays is the idea of anger and rage. This anger slowly builds up inside of minorities and women as they live their lives in a world full of racism and gender discrimination. Steady acts of oppression, ridicule, and harassment leads to the pent-up feeling of anger building inside the people. Imagine if someone continually poked you in the eye, shouted in your ear, and pinched your arm, day after day. Make that ten times worse and it represents what people of color and women lived through, as shown by bell hooks. This motif of anger is very important in the anthology and dealing with that anger is a central aspect of the text.
Symbolism of the Frog
Another symbol that seems unlikely, but is true, is the symbolism of a frog used by bell hooks in one of her essays. As mentioned previously, this essay deals with bell hooks explaining why it is important that the minorities and women who are discriminated in society use rage as a tool instead of doing nothing. bell hooks argues against the ineffectiveness of the passive approach taken by many others in the fight against discrimination. In the essay with the frog and boiling water, where she talks about this, the frog represents society and the community as a whole and the movement of the frog symbolizes society relenting to the pressure of minorities and women fighting against discrimination. This idea is effectively portrayed to the reader because if you add enough social pressure at one time, symbolized by the boiling water, the frog, which symbolizes society, will move and change.
Motif of Discrimination
This motif is the backbone of the essays written by bell hooks. Discrimination is the driving factor of the challenges bell hooks and other black females face in their lives and is the reason they are unable to cherish the same freedoms that Americans are supposed to hold dear. From being discriminated on a plane ride and being barred from their seats to being discriminated by a cab driver in New York City, discrimination is constantly present. In addition to that, there is another level of discrimination that bell hooks argues about. This is the discrimination of one group of people as they fight for their rights against another group of people fighting for their rights. When women's groups fight for equality in society, they often exclude and put down people of color. When people of color fight for their own equality in society, they often exclude women. bell hooks frequently talks about this discrimination, as a black female who faces the worse ends of both discriminatory patterns, and argues that neither group looking for their own rights can be successful if they discriminate against each other.
Motif of Restraint
An important motif that occurs in this text is seemingly at odds with the idea of rage and anger that is pent-up inside of people. This is the idea of restraint. Restraint is something that bell hooks must administer multiple times to keep herself in check and make sure she doesn't do something irrational. The racial discrimination as well as gender discrimination she faces on a daily basis sometimes makes her want to explode. We can see that when she is at the airport sitting next to the white man. She feels a rage so strong that she wants to murder that white man sitting next to her. However, this is where the motif of restraint comes into to play. bell hooks realizes that letting her rage consume her can only lead to negative results in this situation and by restraining herself, she can help the cause of civil rights much more than if she acted on a single instance of rage. Thanks to this restraint, we are able to read her anthology today.
