“Matthew never forgot that story. Out of the sordid setting of that room rose the wild head of Perigua, haloed dimly in the low-burning gas. Far out in the street and alley groaned, yelled, and sang Harlem. The snore of the women came fit-fully from the next room, and Perigua talked.”
“Sordid setting and room rose are examples of repetition that authors use to convey something. In this instance, it was most likely a feeling WEB. Du Bois was trying bring about. This use of repetition gives tribute to Perigua and what he meant in that room Mathew was in. In other words, one could say that even out of the darkest and shoddiest of places can rise brilliance. Or in this case Perigua. Maybe not even brilliance, but something different, something that stands out for that room.
There Is also a use of personification, when using the terms “alley groaned, yelled and sang Harlem.” Maybe to suggest the liveliness of Harlem. Although the liveliness is categorized into three different things. “groaned, yelled and sang.” These words all evoke different feelings and mean different words. Groaning makes one think of something such as agony and or pain. Yelling, is loud and useful in order to get attention: very in your face. Singing, can be soulful, therapeutic, and an act of healing. WEB Du Bois, may have used these words to encompass all that Harlem can be and is. It is a home of agony, pain, liveliness and love.
The word choice in this passage/excerpt appears to be very intentional. “fit-fully” to describe the ladies snoring is how the room and where Matthew’s head is at. He seems to be in and out of his space. On one hand he’s paying attention to Perigua and the room, while also zooming out to Harlem then back to the room again.
Even though this is out of a book, this passage was very poetic in nature. Every description, word and device used was intentional.