Question

What role did prejudice discrimination racism and envy play in the poem the cold within?

Answer 1

Answer:

The cold Within, the poet has shown how people are divided all over the world based on some narrow considerations like racism, religion hatred, class distinction and prejudice.

In the poem the six ''humans'' where there around the dying fire and everybody had a stick to give the fire a new lease of life.

But no one came to share their wood because they had hatred in the mind for others.

The first woman had racism against black people, Another man had ill feelings for people with other religious believes different from his.

The third man was prejudice against the rich people for he was poor, The forth  had prejudice against poor people for he was rich and greedy.

The firth was a black man and he wanted to take revenge against the white people for they had always ill treated their race.

The last man was narrow minded and wanted to share his wood only in exchange for something else.

This is highly symbolic of the foolishness of people's ill feelings against their fellow men.

If people are not broad minded enough then they can never enjoy a happy and peaceful life.  This is the role the poet wanted to convey against discrimination, envy and racism in the play The Cold Within.

Answer 2

In the poem, 'The Cold Within' by James Patrick Kinney, the readers are presented with a scenario where they witness people all over the globe being humiliated and judged based on some negative factors like prejudice, discrimination, envy, racism, etc.

Following is how each of the factors plays a role in the poem:

• The woman who was introduced at the beginning and who refused to help the others escape the fire was a racist. She hated people of color or 'black' people.
  
• Another man was prejudiced toward rich individuals. This is because he was a poor person and hated rich people. This shows envy as well as prejudice towards a particular sector of the population.
  
• The next man was a rich person and prejudice toward the poor.
  
• The last person in the group was a greedy man who wanted to save himself only.

All the above factors represent a clear vision of discrimination on several levels among the people. Hence, the narrow thoughts of each of the six people in the group led to an ultimate tragedy in the poem.

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