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Only A Pawn In Their Game

Only A Pawn In Their Game. Bob Dylan. About the song. Assassination of Medgar Evers July 12 th , 1963 Jackson, Mississippi Byron De La Beckwith White Supremacist. Only a Pawn in Their Game by Bob Dylan. A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood.

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Only A Pawn In Their Game

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  1. Only A Pawn In Their Game Bob Dylan

  2. About the song Assassination of Medgar Evers July 12th, 1963 Jackson, Mississippi Byron De La Beckwith White Supremacist

  3. Only a Pawn in Their Game by Bob Dylan A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood. A finger fired the trigger to his name. A handle hit out in the dark A hand set the spark Two eyes took the aim Behind a man's brain But he can't be blamed He's only a pawn in their game.

  4. Only a Pawn in Their Game (cont) A South politician preaches to the poor white man, 'You got more than the blacks, don't complain. You're better than them, you been born with white skin,' they explain. And the Negro's name Is used it is plain For the politician's gain As he rises to fame And the poor white remains On the caboose of the train But it ain't him to blame He's only a pawn in their game

  5. Only a Pawn in Their Game (cont) The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid, And the marshals and cops get the same, But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool. He's taught in his school From the start by the rule That the laws are with him To protect his white skin To keep up his hate So he never thinks straight 'Bout the shape that he's in But it ain't him to blame He's only a pawn in their game.

  6. Only a Pawn in Their Game (cont) From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks, And the hoof beats pound in his brain. And he's taught how to walk in a pack Shoot in the back With his fist in a clinch To hang and to lynch To hide 'neath the hood To kill with no pain Like a dog on a chain He ain't got no name But it ain't him to blame He's only a pawn in their game.

  7. Only a Pawn in Their Game (cont) Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught. They lowered him down as a king. But when the shadowy sun set on the one That fired the gun He'll see by his grave On the stone that remains Carved next to his name His epitaph plain: Only a pawn in their game.

  8. Aftermath • 2 hung juries in 1963 • All white juries • Case reopened in 1990, found guilty in 1994 • Life Imprisonment • Died, 2001

  9. Speaker of the Song The Speaker of this song is a sympathetic and just citizen who knows the evil harm done but also knows the deeper trouble. The Speaker is passionate about civil rights but thinks that the person alone is not fully to blame for his or her actions.

  10. Literary Devices • Repetition • Metaphor • Symbolism

  11. Repetition • “Only a Pawn in Their Game” • “Poor white man”

  12. Metaphor “A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood. A finger fired the trigger to his name. A handle hit out in the dark A hand set the spark Two eyes took the aim Behind a man's brain But he can't be blamed He's only a pawn in their game”.

  13. Symbolism • “And the poor white remains On the caboose of the train…”

  14. Simile • “But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool”.

  15. Crucifixion by Paul Ochs Images of innocence charge Him go on But the decadence of destiny is looking for a pawn To a nightmare of knowledge he opens up the gate Binding revelation is laid upon His plate That beneath the greatest love is a hurricane of hate And God help the critic of the dawn So he stands on the sea and He shouts to the shore But the louder that He screams, longer He's ignored For the wine of oblivion is drunk to the dregs And the merchants of the masses almost have to be begged 'Til the giant is aware, someone's pulling at His leg And someone is tapping at the door To dance, dance, dance Teach us to be true Come, dance, dance, dance 'Cause we love you

  16. Literature Connection • De La Beckwith relates with Brutus from Julius Caesar • Believes it is for the common good of the people to commit the murder • Not fully to blame for actions

  17. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Joan_Baez_Bob_Dylan_crop.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Joan_Baez_Bob_Dylan_crop.jpg • http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Fort_Knox_Colt_automatic_pistol.jpg • http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Aerial_photograph_of_flood%2C_unidentified_stretch_of_lower_Mississippi_River._-_NARA_-_285958.jpg • http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Young_America%2C_bare_feet_and_all%2C_made_a_gala_event_of_the_Hattiesburg%2C_Mississippi_parade_which_featured_the_drive..._-_NARA_-_196422.jpg • https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Burning-cross2.jpg • http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Evers_Tomb.JPG • http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/beckwith-byron-photos.htm • http://blogs.clarionledger.com/jmitchell/files/2013/05/medgar-evers.jpg • http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/1118/ • http://www.metrolyrics.com/crucifixion-lyrics-phil-ochs.html

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