Analysis Of Blood On The Forge By William Attaway

A Change of Culture Culture has the power of informing you of someone’s identity. It is said that culture is the way of life a group of people follow, meaning their behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that identify them as where they came from, who they are, and who they can become. On the other hand, we know that culture is always changing and adapting to the lifestyle and advances of the present day. This can happen by the adaptation groups of people have suffered in order to achieve a better way of living other than the one they’ve previously had. Examples of these changes can be seen with the â€Å"Great Migration† in the 1900s. A movement in which many African Americans moved to the North to work and settle in the steel mills in search of a better life. In Blood on the Forge by William Attaway, we are able to in fact prove that culture can change and adaptation plays a key role in our existence. The book portrays this change through the life and experie nces of the Moss brothers and their lifestyle from Kentucky to Pennsylvania. With that of culture comes our identity through music. The â€Å"death of the blues† serves as an example in how culture is put up to the challenge of change. Melody, Chinatown, and Big Mat represent â€Å"the loss of folk culture which accompanied the Great Migration of Black people from the rural South to the industrial North† (Waldron 58). As we begin to read, we are able to interpret their lives and identity in the South through Melody’s music. This