Sentence Analysis in "The Comet"
“He has dared -- all, to rescue me,” she [Julia] said quietly, “And I -- thank him -- much.” But she did not look at him again. This sentence is extremely emblematic of the events and conflicts presented in W.E.B. DuBois’s “The Comet.” In this scene, Julia has recently been rescued by Jim, and the two have just been reunited with the rest of the world, proving that the comet didn’t kill everyone (as they had originally thought), but only the inhabitants of New York. However, their reunion -- which should be triumphant -- is bittersweet, as Jim and Julia are instantly reminded of how racist everyone around them is, shown through the way that they instinctively blame Jim for harming Julia, when, in fact, he has taken care of her throughout the day. The entire meaning of the story is conveyed in these two heartbreaking sentences. The dialogue in this moment is extremely important to the story, and this emphasis is exaggerated through the use of dashes. Dashes are typically ...