Category: Langston Hughes

In the poem “Let America Be America Again,” Langston Hughes, brings attention to inequality by making the Great Depression the main subject. Hughes begins the poem by using repetition throughout his poem: “Never was America to me” which places emphasis on how America is not the “America” it claims to be. The speaker seems to be pointing out the failure of the country to able to live up to the principles it was founded upon. Moreover, the speaker goes on to use anaphora in lines 19 through 23, “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars. I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek…”

By Hughes repeating “I am” at the start of each line he is giving a voice to the whites who were moved because of the economic problem going on, the African Americans who continued to be affected by slavery, and the immigrants who hoped to achieve the American dream. He gives equal attention to each member of the society facing inequality in America. Adding on, he goes on throughout the poem, placing focus on the need for equality and liberty. This further concludes Hughes is hopeful for an America that’s welcoming and goes back to being the great America it was at the beginning. Despite the differences in formal choices made by both poets, they’re of resemblance when it comes to calling out America for their issues. Both Allen Myles and Langston Hughes discuss the lack of equality towards those who are not part of the elite. They address America as a country in need of social change.

They both make their audience acknowledge the reality of the struggles millions of Americans face due to inequality. The poets bring awareness and call for equality. At last, I personally believe that it doesn’t make sense to talk about “protest poetry” as a single genre due to the fact that such poems as satirical and slam poetry can be labeled as protest poetry. By referring to protest poetry as a single genre, it places restrictions on their style of writing. For example, both “ An American Poem” by Eileen Myles and “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes are “ protest poetry” meaning works that call out real socio-political issues and reflects on the need for social change like inequality in America. However, this doesn’t signify that it’s only protest, it can also be confessional poetry. This further concludes that protest poetry shouldn’t be placed into a single genre because there are multiple possible genres, creating this work that addresses existing social and political problems.

Life is Fine is considered to be Langston Hughes’s most famous work. Written in 1949, Hughes tells the story of a man who remains optimistic even in the face of despair. This man is clearly depressed and contemplates suicide but is still able to see the beauty in life and completely turns around his point of view on life. This is the reason for the name of this poem ‘Life is Fine’, with fine being the operative word. The man doesn’t believe that life is wondrous because he has seen the dark side of it but is clearly only partially sold on the beauty and splendor of life. The whole form and tone of this poem is optimistic with it being unexpectedly playful despite being a bit gloomy in total. This paper will analyze the meaning of the poem and Langston Hughes’ reason to write this poem. Langston Hughes represented themes of love, death, and hatred in his poems and it is important to analyze how he represented that in his works.

In the opening stanza, the narrator claims that he is going to a river because he has decided to commit suicide. He doesn’t give a reason as to why he wants to kill himself, but he does describe how he jumps but somehow survives. He explains how if the river of water hadn’t been so cold, he would’ve been more comfortable dying. “I tried to think but couldn’t,

So I jumped in and sank “, the reference to trying to think and not being able to suggest the narrator might be depressed. “But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!” This line is repeated because Hughes wishes to convey the importance of the water being cold because something as insignificant as the water temperature could’ve made him more comfortable in dying. It’s as if the narrator is trying to justify a way to not attempt suicide as much as he wants to. This shows that he doesn’t really want to go ahead with it, he just thinks it’s the only possible outcome.

The fourth stanza begins with the narrator, “[taking] the elevator up sixteen floors above the ground.” So, he can jump sixteen floors down, which is imagery because it really places you in the scene and makes you feel like you’re right there with him, making the decision. Hughes invites the reader to step in and feel like the audience is in the man’s shoes. A dangerous trip for the reader. It feels like the narrator is telling us this in order to get rid of his sufferings, and is passing them to us. But suddenly he thinks of something that stops him, “I thought about my baby”, is an ambiguous line with an unclear meaning. He could be talking about a romantic relationship or referencing a child, but ultimately, he doesn’t want to die because he doesn’t want to leave them. “I stood there and I hollered! I stood there and I cried!”, are two lines similar to the first two lines of the second stanza but are now different because the narrator has found another justification for why he shouldn’t kill himself. He is now standing atop a building rather than jumping in a river. The narrator refuses to jump, to end their own death. “But it was High up there! It was high!”, This is a line like the other repeating one in the first three stanzas. This line follows a repetition pattern and the narrator is yet again justifying the reason why he cannot kill himself. The poem then completely shifts to a less somber and more hopeful tone. The narrator realizes that there must’ve been a reason why his last two suicide attempts failed, and he decides he has had a second chance at life and then chooses to keep living his life even though he “could’ve died for love. But for livin’ [he] was born” This phrase makes me question, why would he have died for love. What was the severity of their problem? Does he feel like he can’t continue living without this other person?

In this second to last stanza, the narrator seems to defy his previous way of thinking. He is sad but that doesn’t mean he is going to try to die. The narrator is effectively saying that they have not been broken or destroyed. In a sense, this is a message of hope and how It gets better. In 1949, a time when mental illness wasn’t really much of a topic for discussion, Hughes recognized that. People might feel a certain way, but they shouldn’t find death as their only outcome. The last line has the same type of repetition as the other lines, “Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!”, describes how in spite of these hardships of life, the message becomes overwhelming through the repetition of ‘Life is fine!’ which is said twice in the line. It is also assonance so we can engrave the phrase in our brains. The simile that conveys just how fine it is, is ‘fine as wine.’ This is a big shift from how the narrator felt at the beginning of the poem which ends with him recognizing that even though life is hard and he will suffer, “[He’s] still here livin’, I guess I will live on”. Although adding the comment about life being “fine as wine” may just hint that the narrator is going to turn to the bottle. Which might’ve undone the hopeful vibe before. But I highly doubt it because that’s not what the poem seems to convey.

This poem is ultimately about strength. How someone can go from being a pessimist to an optimist? Life is Fine by Langston Hughes successfully conveys one of humanity’s most fundamental understandings: Life is a blessing. We should be thankful for it no matter what. Life and death may seem extreme opposites, but the poem wishes to express that the distance between life and death is just a jump away. Hughes revisits a common theme in his work: perseverance. He was an empathetic man who understood the desperation of these people and creates a character who considers giving up on life but can never quite go through it. This man represents hope. He still has something to live for. By coming so close to death, the speaker in ‘Life is Fine’ finds a new desire to live and persevere in life. Hughes’ poem is considered to be autobiographical because Hughes had a life filled with emotions, so I believed he showed that in his poem.

I believe this poem is very important now more than ever. Since we now live in a society where speaking about mental illnesses isn’t as biased as it was back in 1949. I believe this poem would be helpful in ending the stigma of having shame for having a mental illness and seeing suicide as the only alternative. This poem shows the reader that life keeps going and that no matter how hard the past might be, you can always start again.

He basically opposes hell in this poem in a way where he’s explaining the common challenges that the black community faces with themselves. Always looking down on their own figures and those around them, as well as blaming white individuals for their failures when pointing fingers at them shouldn’t be their way of overcoming this challenge. By preventing failure aka “opposing hell”, he explains the alternative way of moving forward other than pointing fingers which are to face your individual flaws & better them for your own benefit and no one else’s

Hughes’s poetry and short stories are set among real people, mostly black Americans, mostly poor people.

Hughes’s poetry and short stories are set among real people, mostly black Americans, mostly poor people.

Life is Fine by Langston Hughes really caught my attention because I feel it’s a great example of the opposite of hell.

The narrator of life is fine and considers jumping from reality into the river. it tells a story about a man who is suffering and contemplating suicide, but he is able to see the beauty that life which made a turnaround toward his decisions. The poem appears to be about a man living a rough life, who has a near death that makes him realize just how valuable his life is. encounter has been through a lot in life, whose sorrows lead to depression. which made him think about killing himself because he felt life wasn’t worth living, But when he realized the beauty of life he changed his decision.

The poem Life is Fine made me understand the fact that whatever situation you are in, committing suicide or hurting yourself won’t solve your problems. But trusting in yourself, God and your reason for being alive can still make a difference.

I believe letting go of the past, building up low self-esteem blocking out every negativity, and taking ownership over your mind can improve the struggles of the mind which can eliminate the thoughts of death.

Langston made us understand that he also feels the plight of people and also considers giving up on life is not the solution to end struggles but it’s better off to choose life over death. For example when Langston said in the poem “ So since I’m still here living, I guess I will live on ”. Life is Fine made me realize that living a life in which you are regularly expressing your purpose in life, your thoughts, feelings, and actions are simply great and mind-blowing.

The United States of America is a country with a lot of history and culture. Different decades have especially marked this nation and the 30s were no exception. Many transcendental events took place, for example on February 18, the American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto Moreover, on May 1, 1931, the construction of the Empire State Building in New York City was finally completed as it opened for business. On May 27, 1937, The Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic (American Best History, 2019).

Nonetheless, the main event that marked this decade was the economic crisis that this nation had to face. Hebert Hoover was the president a lot of people relate to the Great Depression. Lindop (2009) affirms: “In 1930 U.S. tariffs were already high, but President Hoover wanted to make them higher. If people bought fewer foreign goods and more U.S. ones, he reasoned the U.S. economy would benefit.” (p. 19).

During this harsh period, a man became the voice and the representative of the voices for those people who were afraid to use their own. “James Mercer Langston Hughes, best known as Langston Hughes, was born February 1, 1902, in Missouri, United States” (Poets. org, n. d). He became a well-recognized character in the black inventive, academic, and literary society of the Harlem Renaissance. He distinguished himself for his “insightful, colorful portrayals of black life” (Poets. org, n. d). during his career and positive existence. “Any mention of the American Dream seemed a mockery, but somewhere in the grim landscape, Langston Hughes began writing.” (Attic, 2017, p. 2).

In the beginning, white critics paid no attention to his work while many black intellectuals criticized it. They felt that he should project a positive image of his race by focusing only on the qualities of black people instead of mentioning the struggles and hard times they had to suffer. Nonetheless, Hughes managed to make a living out of his literary work because average people in fact liked his writing. A characteristic that made him stand out was his ability to connect to different people and represent them. Hughes was able to describe situations that the common person could relate to. Furthermore, he truly believed that all humans could learn to live together in harmony, this ideal was not accepted by everyone but many did find it inspiring (The Poetry Foundation, n. d).

Hughes had a difficult childhood because of the bad relationship that his parents had. Before reaching puberty he had lived in six American cities (The Poetry Foundation, n. d). His grandmother took care of him until he was thirteen years old in Lincon where he started showing his abilities in poetry. “In November 1924, he moved to Washington, D. C. Hughes’s first book of poetry, The Weary Blues” (Poets. org, n. d). and “in 1930 his first novel, Not Without Laughter, won the Harmon gold medal for literature” (Poets. org, n. d). The poem “Let America be great again” was written in 1935 on a train that Hughes boarded from Cleveland to Ohio, it was a time of grief and despair as he had received the unfortunate news that his mother had breast cancer.

Let America Be America Again is a poem of 86 verses written in the first person. The content of the masterpiece is significant to American society and has been mentioned in important events during American history like a campaign slogan used by Senator John Kerry in his presidential campaign in 2004 (Halbfinger, 2004).

Even though the poem did not win any awards, Hughes expressed the unfair life that many American citizens had to overcome. Thanks to the meaningful verses that are found in the poem, Hughes transmits a tone of hope to everyone that sooner or later, the American Dream will become a reality. Motivated by this piece of poetry, the topic I have chosen to analyze is the connection between the poem and American society. To this end, my research question is: How do the themes presented in the poem Let America Be America Again reflect American society in the 1930s? In order to answer the question of this English B category 3 essay, I will analyze three topics that will be explored in different chapters. The first chapter will discuss the American Dream, the second one will address the collapse of the economy and the third one will focus on racism and injustice

The investigation of this topic is important due to the fact that it allows us to have a better understanding of the motivations and struggles that have influenced American citizens.

The primary source that was used for this research is the poem verses, in which Langston Hughes presented his opinion about the American state of affairs in the 1930s. In addition to this, I also used secondary sources such as history books that mention the American circumstances during the 30s and poetry sources found on web pages where people analyze and give their points of view about the poem, like Owl Study. For the first chapter, I used the book The American Dream. A Cultural History by Lawrence R. Samuel, the study of the poem by different people in Owl study, a news article from Daily about the story behind the term “America Dream”. For the collapse of the economy chapter I consider the book “The Great Depression in United States History” and other sources, like the site web HISTORY, that involved newspaper articles. Last but not least in the final chapter I based my investigation of the Jim Crow Laws on the book “Jim Crow Laws Landmarks of the American Mosaic” by Leslie V. Tischauser in order to make a further analysis as well as the site web Modern American Poetry and NJ State Library.

Langston Hughes, an influential literary artist, “explore[d] the lives of African-Americans” during the Harlem Renaissance (“Mother to Son” 177). Because he was black himself, Hughes could write about his first-hand experience of “the tacks and splinters” associated with discrimination, and provide the privileged with his perspective (Miller 432). Hughes reveals the impediments blacks faced by writing with figurative language (Miller 426). By using those metaphors in his work, Hughes was encouraged to “capture” the particular speech of African Americans and write in such a way that celebrated their way of life (“Mother to Son” 181-182). Through his selective language and dialect, Hughes recognizes the struggles of African Americans as well as the perseverance of their race in his poem “Mother to Son.”

Hughes begins his poem with a conversation between a mother addressing her son. “Well, son, I’ll tell you:” (Hughes 1) directly implies a parental figure is beginning to educate their child. Hughes conveys the conversational effect by writing with a “colloquial” tone, mocking the flow of a realistic conversation (Evans). Hughes continues writing with a simplistic voice in order to place readers in the son’s point of view (“Mother to Son” 184). Hughes writes with “an intimate tone and personal” view (Evans) so the “son’s frustrations become our own” (“Mother to Son” 184). A conversational tone is further developed as the mother repeats the conjunction “and” (4-6) and writes with “irregular line lengths” (“Mother to Son” 181). By using anaphora, Hughes “juxtaposes” (Evans) the “splinters” (4) and “places with no carpet on the floor” (6) to the “crystal stair” (2) that she never experienced. The repetition of “and” creates a rhythm of a natural conversation while also reflecting the mother’s persistence to give her son a life she never knew (Evans). In addition to constructing an informal tone, Hughes’s use of free verse depicts the setbacks and complications the mother faces (“Mother to Son” 181). Shifting from shorter to longer lines further develops the causal effect of the poem while also “mirroring the setbacks, turns, and uneven” (“Mother to Son” 181) obstacles of the mother’s life. Hughes achieves a conversational tone by writing with rhetorical devices to convey how the mother perseveres in order to have a better life for her son.

As the poem advances, Hughes continues writing with African American dialect to build a character. Hughes’s use of “I’ve” (9, 18-19) portrays a personality, specifically, the point of view of a black person. The dialect of African American language has many negative connotations, and for that reason, Hughes works to revoke those labels (“Mother to Son” 182). By incorporating specific dialect into his writing, Hughes creates a mother with “uneducated diction,” further revealing “a lifetime of the reduced opportunity” (“Mother to Son” 182). Many readers recognize Hughes is not building a “lazy” speaker (“Mother to Son” 182), but the uneducated speaking instead signifies the missed opportunities of blacks (“Mother to Son” 182), resulting in their own diction. Her effortless dictum may come across as uneducated, but in her ideas, she “embodies the wisdom” of her own race (Evans). Hughes continuously sought to portray the mother’s persistence through her language: “Where there ain’t been no light.” (13). “Ain’t” is commonly seen in our language today as slang, but Hughes utilizes it to build style and further leave “clues” (“Mother to Son” 180) to show how far the mother has come, despite the discrimination she has faced. Hughes’s word choice conveys the darkness the mother has seen as well as how her determination allowed her to overcome her “physical and spiritual” obstacles (“Mother to Son” 179). Her diction is seen again in “finds” (16) as she “warns” her son to not give up if he crosses a difficult path since she has gotten him far in life (“Mother to Son” 180). Hughes uses specific African American language to depict the mother and show her determination of providing a better life for her son.

Through the length of “Mother to Son,” readers can acknowledge Hughes’s desire to recognize the discrimination and hardships of African Americans in the mid-1900s. The poem begins with the mother pronouncing “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair” (2), indicating that she hasn’t had a perfect life. The crystal stair could represent “dreams that the mother once held” or her “spiritual quest towards heaven” (“Mother to Son” 179). Whatever the indication may be, Hughes intends for the stairway to “connotate smoothness and ease” (“Mother to Son” 179), something many blacks in the twentieth century never got to experience. The mother goes on to explain she’s been “a-climbin’ on” (9) and “sometimes goin’ in the dark” (12), highlighting “the history of African Americans” and their “endless” fight for equality (“Mother to Son” 186). Hughes concludes his poem as the mother motivates her son to not “fall now” (17) because she is “still goin’” (18) and “climbin’” (19). Because the mother has grown up facing hardships, she encourages her son to not fall into the pressures of society since his perseverance will “benefit” their race as a whole (“Mother to Son” 180). The last line of “Mother to Son” repeats the “crystal stair” (20) she never had. This closing line is a final encouragement to the son, pushing him to climb the stairwell in order to find freedom for African Americans and complete the work she started (Miller 432). In summary, Hughes works to include the black race’s hardships in his work.

In ‘The Black Ball’ by Ralph Ellison, the story’s themes are struggle, equality, hope, and connection, while in ‘Why, You Reckon?’ by Langston Hughes, the author uses two characters at the beginning to show peer pressure, poverty, and racism.

In ‘The Black Ball’, Ellison discusses the relationship he has with his own race. For example, John’s son in the story says, “Brown’s much nicer than white, isn’t it, Daddy?” (Ellison, 344). John’s son is exploring his own racial status in society. As he becomes more aware of discrimination and exclusion, he increasingly distances himself from society and becomes more disillusioned. “Well, if I ever see him around here again, you’re going to find yourself behind the black ball. Now get him on round to the back and then come up here and clean up this mess he’s made” (Ellison, 351). John’s boss uses this quote to explain his disillusionment and anger at John’s son for a white boy throwing his ball through his window. Although both of these examples illustrate a turning point in society, John and his son eventually gained a greater understanding as follows: “He had already played with the ball; that he would discover later. He was learning the rules of the game already, but he didn’t know it” (Ellison, 352). Ellison strengthens the reader’s understanding of this break with society and personal gain as all of the characters grow.

Hughes uses class to make the same point as Ellison. Hughes develops his characters through struggle and sheds light on the disillusionment with the class system. “Man, ain’t you hongry? Didn’t I see you down there at the charities today, not gettin’ nothin’ like me? You didn’t get a thing, did you? Hell, no! Well, you gotta take what you want, that’s all, reach out and take it” (Hughes, 253). This quote shows the realization that the class system breaks individuals systematically and creates rifts in society. This realization ultimately leads to a sense of disillusionment with society, as illustrated by the men robbing Edward. However, as Hughes develops the story, he ultimately shows that the disillusionment towards society is a source of strength and greater understanding, illustrated by “What do you suppose is the matter with rich white folks? Why you reckon they ain’t happy?” (Hughes, 258).

Both works address racism but use completely different characters and styles to reveal the discrimination that African Americans faced in the 1920s. Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison were trying to present another perspective on racial issues to give the readers a new respect for the black community. ‘Why, You Reckon?’ by Langston Hughes and ‘The Black Ball’ by Ralph Ellison had the same key points on the racial issues going on. With both authors presenting the world through a colored person’s eyes, the similarities in their stories with problems of race, diversity, and powerlessness differ in each man and woman.

In conclusion, both men work hard despite them not being treated equally. At the end of ‘The Black Ball’, Ellison ends the story with a sense of hope. In ‘Why, You Reckon’ by Langston Hughes, the author expresses to the audience that just because people have money doesn’t mean that they are happy.