Essay ( what I had finished)

In the story, The Known World by Edward Jones, Jones creates and reveals an earthly character, Moses, using many examples of imagery and detail throughout the story.

 

In the beginning of the story, Moses is first presented as a slave whom had been working for his master, harnessed to the oldest mule that his master owned for almost fifteen hours. After working all day, Moses does something peculiar. “Moses closed his eyes and bent down and took a pinch of the soil and ate it with no more thought than if it were a spot of cornbread.” “ He was the only man in the realm, slave or free, who ate dirt, but while the bondage women, particularly the pregnant ones, ate it for some incomprehensible need, for that something that ash cakes and apples and fatback did not give their bodies, he ate it not only to discover the strengths and weakness of the field, but because the eating of it tied him to the only thing in his small world that meant almost as much as his own life.” These quotes are important to show the development and revelation of Moses, because it shows his true character. Moses seems to want to feel as if he is one with the earth. He wanted to not only taste the strength and the weaknesses of the field, but also taste something that was apart of him, something that was vital to who he was. The earth is where he came from, and he wants to feel like he is respecting and feeling where he first came from.

 

 

 

“Moses smelled the coming of rain. He breathed deeply, feeling it surge through him. Believing he was alone, he smiled. He knelt down to be closer to the earth and breathed deeply some more.” This quote is another example of how Moses feels a deep connection with the earth. He feels exhilarated when the breathes in the smell of the rain coming. He even bends closer to the ground so that he could feel closer to the earth, more one with the earth. There seems to be a connection between Moses and the earth around him, as the weather and the day evolves, so do Moses’s emotions. When he recognizes that rain is soon to come, he is exhilarated, urged to go further into the woods, it is what gives him seeming life. Even after an exhausting, hard day in the field, he still wants to be outside, in nature, surrounded by the open earth. "Well into the forest the rain came in torrents through the trees and their mighty summer leaves and after a bit Moses stopped and held out his hands and collected water that washed over his face. Then he undressed down to his nakedness and lay down." Even when it was poring down rain within the forest, Moses continues to travel through the forest, seeming to enjoy the rain as he cups some of it into his hands and washed it onto his face. He embraces the world around him, enjoys the nature around him.