Journal #7

John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "The Hunter's of Men" uses imagery to call the audience to action. Because Whittier was an abolitionist, it is easy to see why he took a stance against those who captured slaves. One example of imagery is in the line "Right merrily hunting the black man, whose sin Is the curl of his hair and hue of his skin!" This line creates an image in the reader's head and basically says that it is wrong to persecute people simply because their skin is a different color. Two lines after this, Whittier writes "Will our hunters be turned from their purpose and prey?" This I thought was more of a subtle call to action to the reader's of the papers in which he published his works. I think he was hoping the readers who knew people that persecuted blacks would be motivated to action. Another example of imagery is the line that appears a few times in the poem "All mounting the saddle, all grasping the rein." The word grasping creates an image of aggresivism and I think Whittier is trying to tell his audience that the whites are in control. Next, Whittier's line "What right have they here in the home of the white, Shadowed o'er by our banner of Freedom and Right?" Again
Whittier paints a picture of white domination, and says that America is free and just but only if you are white. In this I think he is trying to point out how wrong it is to discriminate in a "free country" just because of skin color. Overall it is evident that Whittier's abolitionist stance is present in the images of this poem.