ERIC GARNER’S SEQUENCES OF LIFE RECONSTRUCTED: A STUDY OF MATT TAIBBI’S I CAN’T BREATHE: A KILLING ON BAY STREET

Author Name: Donald N’zambi-Mikoulou

Volume/Issue: 01/10

Country: Congo

DOI NO.: 08.2020-25662434 DOI Link: http://www.doi-ds.org/doilink/04.2021-81983459/UIJIR

Affiliation:

  1. Université Marien Ngouabi, Congo-Brazzaville

ABSTRACT

The examination of Matt Taibbi’s I Can’t Breathe: A Killing on Bay Street has enabled me to discover that the protagonist in this novel is the double of the historical Eric Garner, for their life mirrors each other. While the first is known as Essaw’s husband, an asthma sufferer, and the American police officers’ prisoner, the second shares the same qualifications, mainly that of prisoner which has urged him to death. This character’s similarity with the historical Eric Garner has led me to acknowledge that I Can’t Breathe: A Killing On Bay Street is a discourse on history. For this reason, I have confessed that Matt Taibbi has, through his main character, shown his endeavors in incorporating history into his work of fiction, and this incorporation has betrayed his source of inspiration in writing his novel.

Key words: Protagonist, Eric Garner, Similarity, History, Fiction, Incorporation.