Ellison’s Eerie Essay “Tell It Like It Is, Baby”
Ralph Ellison’s essay Tell It Like It Is, Baby was inspired by a letter he had received ten years prior to the essay’s publication from his friend Virgil Brannam. Brannam had told Ellison to “tell a man how it is,” requesting information about the political situation of Blacks in America. Ellison’s essay describes a complex dream in which Ellison, as a young boy looking for his father, encounters an angry mob desecrating Lincoln’s body. This portion of the essay was extremely disturbing because of Ellison’s use of vivid imagery. Furthermore, Ellison interweaves references to his father, whom he had lost at an early age. It is apparent that Lincoln was for America, what Ellison’s deceased father was for him – a source of hope during turbulent times. I am wondering what impressions everyone else had of this essay. Did you like it? Did you find Ellison’s descriptions eerie or was it easy to breeze through?
I think although graphic and hard to read, Ellison makes an important point in this essay. As we spoke about in class, the link between Lincoln and Ellison’s dad isn’t just for kicks. Ellison, in my opinion, was finding the root to the abolition movement, and where he could go from there. One reason Ellison might have picked Lincoln is an abolitionist who wasn’t insanely radical. He had a calm and thoughtful process on fighting slavery, and it was exactly what Ellison was looking for. I enjoyed this essay quite a bit.
I feel that through this essay, Ellison makes it a point to say what everyone else was thinking at the time. He is bold and outspoken, and in “Tell It Like It Is Baby” I definitely felt like I was there with him while he was recounting that dream. I agree with Dan that he was finding the root of the abolitionist movement, as he was trying to find a way to reach society and help people understand what he sees and how to go about fighting slavery.