Essay Questions

Why is Ta-Nehisi Coates depicting T’Challa as a struggling King of the Wakanda Nation?

T’Challa has become a discomfiture to the people of the Wakanda nation and there is no single individual who is supporting his regime. This comic book commences by depicting T’Challa as a disgraced son to his father, T’Chaka who was the previous king of Wakanda. According to T’Chaka, T'challa has failed him completely and he is now denouncing him as his son. Similarly, the people of the Wakanda nation are rising against the leadership of T'Challa. There is an uprising to remove T'Challa from his kingship position. The people of this fictional nation are arguing that T’Challa does not deserve the title, the ‘Black Panther’ because he is a failure in all aspects. Consequently, T'Challa is struggling to restore his legacy but in vain.

Is the author of the Black Panther portraying T’Chaka as a symbol of King T’Challa’s downfall?

Naturally, fathers are attached to their children and they will stand by their side no matter what situation. However, the author of this comic book portrays a different script in which T'Chaka is disowning his son, King T'challa. According to T'Chaka, King T'Challa has proven to be a disgrace and burden to the people of the Wakanda nation. Since T'Challa has no support from his father, there is no single person that is having confidence in him. Therefore, T'Chaka symbolizes King T'Challa's downfall because he does not support him in any way.

What does the Wakandan Combatant mean when he tells King T’Challa, “Call the soldiers back, my king! We must not massacre our people!”?

King T'Challa is a disappointed ruler and he has resulted in unreasonable tactics to make his people obey him. The king has sent his soldiers out to punish all those citizens who are against him and being loyal to the mind controlling woman. The combatant in his statement is trying to convince the king to use other amicable solutions to calm down his people instead of using excessive power. At last, the king takes the advice of the combatant and lets the people make their own decisions regarding the contentious issues facing the Wakanda nation.