Amiri Baraka's "An Agony. As Now"

Paper Summary:

This paper relates that Amiri Baraka's poem "An Agony. As Now" presents the poet observing himself from some distance and taking stock of what he sees. The paper describes how the poet expresses the nature of the black man in American society; he has been made to hate himself by the majority white society that prevents him from feeling complete. The paper shows how he is at war with himself, between the self he was made to be by circumstances and the self he wants to be and is trying to become.

From the Paper:

"The work expresses the divided and in some ways unfinished nature of the black man in American society, in keeping with the use of only the left parenthesis because the black man may have started becoming but has been thwarted and prevented from achieving completion. In addition, the poet is expressing the view that his reality and his sense of self depends on his hatred of others. He says he hates himself, because he has been made to hate himself by the majority white society that prevents him from feeling complete. When he looks out at himself and hates himself, it is because of his inability to overcome the limitations placed on him. In the world in which he lives, "innocence is a weapon" (13)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Baraka, Amiri. "An Agony, As Now." In The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Volume 2, Third Edition, Baym, Nina et al. (eds.), 2746-2747. New York: W.W. Norton,, 1989.

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