The Cross and the Lynching Tree Literary Elements

Theological text

America in the 20th Century

The narrator is James H. Cone himself, who offers an insight into the African American point of view.

The tone of the mood is often melancholy and contemplative.

There is no clear protagonist, but the text does offer the perspective of African Americans. The antagonist is racism.

The major conflict in this text is the suffering that African Americans have endured throughout history and the fact that this suffering is still not acknowledged fully today due to shame, embarrassment, and ignorance.

In Chapter 5, Cone describes the lynching of a pregnant black woman. This horrific description could be considered a climax in the text due to its shocking nature.

The death of Jesus on the cross symbolically foreshadows the deaths of many African American men and women as a result of lynching.

Cone argues that in theological discourse, the connection between the cross and the lynching tree is understated.

Cone alludes to "Strange Fruit," a haunting jazz song about lynching.

Violent imagery is used to describe the lynching of black men and women in 20th Century America

The cross is a "paradoxical symbol" according to Cone, as it suggests there is hope in death.

A parallel is created between the cross and the lynching tree in the text.

N/A

N/A