I, Too explication

The metaphor in line 3, “They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes,” expresses the oppression that African Americans still face (Hughes). However, as the poem progresses, a sense of hope appears. Found in line 15, “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed---” the true value of African Americans will soon enough prevail (Hughes). In “I Too”, the narrator’s use of personal pronouns symbolizes the entirety of African Americans and how the oppression denotes isolation.

Langston Hughes was a poet with many artistic abilities. His writing and drawings established the lifestyles of many African Americans during this time. In a poem called “I, Too” Hughes express his feelings as an African American, a brother, and someone who deserves to fit in society. He states “I, too sing America” (1039). Hughes saw himself as an individual who has a voice in America even though his skin is a little darker. In a poem called “Democracy” Hughes states: “I have as much right as the other fellow has to stand on my own two feet and own the land” (1043). Hughes was speaking for every African American whom were still dealing with segregation, racism, and freedom.

As we move to the second stanza it provides us with a tone where the speakers is hopeful that one day in the future he’ll be important as the people who make him eat in the kitchen. We can interpret that from “Tomorrow I’ll be at the table when company comes. Nobody’ll dare say to me eat in the kitchen, then”. At the end of the poem the speaker says “Besides, they’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed” implying that the discriminating people will one day find out that everyone one is equal and be disappointed in their actions.

The whole process of the civil rights movement was to get African Americans equal treatment as American citizens. Hughes shows his reader the struggle of African American’s treatment through many of his poems. In “I,Too”, the reader sees the dream that the young servant dreams of every day, “They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the

In I, Too, Sing America when Langston Hughes writes of a darker brother who is told to eat in the kitchen you know that he is talking about African Americans. In this poem Langston Hughes writes a stanza that changes your idea of what the poem is about. He says “ Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes. Nobody’ll dare say to me, “Eat in the Kitchen,” then”. This line is is clearly stating the main idea of the poem right there. It’s telling us of how now there is segregation, but one day in the future all men will be equal.

There is also evidence when he said that he is the darker brother and they sent him to eat in the kitchen which is talking about Hughes` being treated unfairly. In the second stanza he says “ Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes. Nobody’ll dare say to me, “Eat in the Kitchen,” then”. He talks about the future when he is a well known poet and everyone will be treated equally, he will be treated the same as the people who used to treat him

Hughes did not make this poem very long and narrative, instead, he made it quick and to the point. On line three he says, "They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes." In saying those words, he is saying that the people are inferring that because he is of darker color he has been scolded and deprived of his freedom. The people have sent him to the kitchen to eat because they felt that he was not of high enough standards to eat in the kitchen when the company comes. Also, this may mean that the people are afraid of what the company might say when they see a black man in the house.

In the second stanza he talks about tomorrow by saying “Tomorrow / I’ll be at the table.” (8-9). Even though this stanza is written in present tense the reader can assume that he does not literal mean tomorrow, but a distant future. He demonstrates hopefulness and optimism through this. He is saying that in the future, he will be able to sit down with everybody regardless of skin color. Not only does Hughes say he say those lines proud fully, he also says “When company comes. / Nobody’ll dare / say to me / “Eat in the kitchen.” (10-13). With this being said, the reader can understand that ultimately Hughes is saying that America will be ashamed for all the injustices they made him and African Americans go through. When the day comes, no one will demand him to go eat in the kitchen.

The division between whites and blacks was clearly prevalent and the United States of America was a racially discriminatory society reinforced by its racist laws. Hughes took the initiative to speak his mind via poetry, resulting in his piece “I, Too”. In this poem, Hughes clearly signifies one thing: Just because his skin color is different from whites, does not mean that they get to sing the National Anthem louder. Arguing that all American citizens are the same, disregarding their skin color, Hughes applies in this poem a master-slave relationship. The assumed white master shows disrespect to his servant by sending him away whenever visitors come over, because he is ordered to eat secluded from the company. However he seems to not be faze by this and actually finds it funny, supported by “But I laugh” (5). Furthermore, not only does he find amusement in this unpleasant situation, but the isolation has a positive effect on him “And grow strong” (7), implying that even though he submits to his master, his spirit will not be diminished.

Hughes’s poem is more of an argument against that of the people (whites) back then who were prejudice against blacks. With the first couple of lines of “I, Too, Sing America”, the lines mean that even if he is sent to the “kitchen” when “company” comes, he’ll still laugh and eat well and grow stronger from the experience, not really seeing it as if it were bad but more of a motivation to stop it from happening again. When coming to the lines of “Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, “Eat in the Kitchen,” Then”, the lines that are given here are just saying that this time around he’ll be at the “table” when the “company” and no one

Langston Hughes, a popular African American writer, often wrote about oppression as a black person in segregated America. In his poem, “I, Too, Sing America,” Hughes expresses his experiences of oppression and how dreams of an inclusive America. During Hughes time, the Harlem Renaissance, many black civil rights activists conveyed their hopes of being accepted into society, much like Hughes. The poem showed the non acceptance of the African American people, as through the non acceptance of the “darker brother” in the poem. Hughes speaks for the African American people when he expresses that he, too, wishes to rise up to

“I, Too” also portrays the racism of the times, but in a much different way, Hughes character is a young colored boy, a symbol of black America. His family depicts white America. The boy is sent to the kitchen when the family entertains, because he is “… the darker brother” (Hughes, L.2, 872), whom the family wants to keep

Langston Hughes and I have many things in common.. In “Theme for English B” Hughes talks about his truth, how he is very aware that he has a different skin color, but that is not what he thinks he should be identified by. What identifies him are the accumulation of the things in his life. I can relate with this because although I do not feel like I am discriminated for my race, I do feel like I'm discriminated against for not being like those of my race. I also know that certain points of one’s life shapes it. It is difficult to know what you are suppose to be when you are a the first born generation in a country. Much like Hughes at the time that he wrote the piece, I too am young and am eager to grow, while also being oblivious to what come

Langston Hughes poem “I, Too” was written during a time when segregation was in affect, blacks was not allowed to have a voice. “I, Too” spoke volumes to the people of the Harlem Renaissance, it showed that blacks would rise and would become part of the American dream instead of facing ongoing segregation. African Americans would

The first line of I, Too - “I, too, sing America” - is the speaker’s declaration that he is American. But who is he replying to - why does he “too” sing America? And why does he “sing America?” Why can’t it just say “I am American?” First of all, it’s important to establish that Hughes’s writing was inspired by Walt Whitman, whom many view as the father of American poetry (Ward). In Whitman’s poem I hear America Singing, the first line immediately shows a parallel of I, Too: “I hear America singing.” On the other