Hard Rock Legendary Hero
Hard rock
Knight’s creation of Hard Rock as a Black legendary hero is quite successful. Hard Rock has come to symbolize the Black man inside and outside prison walls who has been eventually broken by the overpowering forces in an oppressive society. To the poet, Hard Rock had been the epitome of what the Black man views as his freedom—being his own man: "[Hard Rock] is known not to take no shit/from Nobody," and "he had the scars to prove it." Now, the prisoners hear that he had changed; the prison system had inflicted a lobotomy upon him. In order to quell his adamancy, doctors had tampered with his brain—the seat of his spirit. They had not cut off his legs to restrict his movement—his movement was already restricted in the "Hole"; instead,
Knight’s creation of Hard Rock as a Black legendary hero is quite successful. Hard Rock has come to symbolize the Black man inside and outside prison walls who has been eventually broken by the overpowering forces in an oppressive society. To the poet, Hard Rock had been the epitome of what the Black man views as his freedom—being his own man: "[Hard Rock] is known not to take no shit/from Nobody," and "he had the scars to prove it." Now, the prisoners hear that he had changed; the prison system had inflicted a lobotomy upon him. In order to quell his adamancy, doctors had tampered with his brain—the seat of his spirit. They had not cut off his legs to restrict his movement—his movement was already restricted in the "Hole"; instead,