Abstract :
This thesis is about symbols in William Blake?s The Little Black Boy that reflects
the slavery of African from 14
th
century up to 19
th
century. William Blake wrote The Little
Black Boy on 18
th
century, when the slave trade still happened.
The aim of this thesis is to find out the role of figure of speech and the slavery of African
that took place from 14
th
century up to 19
th
century. The figure of speech is specified to the
symbols in William Blake?s The Little Black Boy reflecting the condition on 14
th
century
up to 19
th
century.
This thesis applies two methods: method of the study and method of approach.
Library research is conducted in library by reading books and internet. Semiotic approach
as the method of approach is applied in which the literary work is treated as structural
approach and sociological approach.
This discussion is divided into three sections: the symbols in William Blake?s The
Little Black Boy; the slavery of African from 14
th
century up to 19
th
century; and the role of
symbols in reflecting the slavery of African from 14
th
century up to 19
th
century in William
Blake?s The Little Black Boy. The first section tries to find out the role of symbols in the
poem. The second section tries to reflect the slavery of African from 14
th
up to 19
th
century.
And third section tries to analyze the role of symbols to reflect the slavery of African from
14
th
century up to 19
th
century, as the main point of this thesis.
The findings of the analysis are that the symbols which be found in William
Blake?s The Little Black Boy; they are ?black? and ?black bodies? represents the main
figure namely the child of slave. Moreover, several symbols e.g. heat away, sunburnt face,
the grove, etc. which represent condition of the black skin people. The slavery was begun
in the 14
th
century. African was captured to become slave by Portuguese; so that slave trade
developed as a lucrative commercial system. The slave trade contributed to the commercial
and industrial revolution of the 18
th
and 19
th
century. The symbol ?southern wild? refers to
location of slavery that is Africa. The symbol ?lamb? symbolized freedom. The movement
against slavery slowly was succeed abolished slavery which was end on the19
th
century.
Indirectly, African got their freedom and starts their new life.