Langston Hughes I Too Theme

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.

When people think of the American Dream, they think of individuals who climb up from the bottom of society to the top through hard work and determination. This way they could gain possession of the materialist things they always wanted and live a joyful life as well as provide for their families. One also thinks of a society free of prejudice and discrimination where everyone is considered to have an equal status. Yet, when Mark Twain wrote his book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he intended to reveal the darker side of humanity and how things actually occurred after the Civil War.

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 this paper I will be talking about the similarities and differences in the two different poems. The two poems were written by two incredible poets and were probably one of the best in their lifetimes. The first poem is written by Walt Whitman and is called “ I Hear America Singing”. The other poem is by Langston Hughes and is called “I, Too, Sing America” .Many people believe that Langston Hughes wrote his poem “I, Too, Sing America” in response to Walt Whitman's poem “ I Hear America Singing”. Some people have a completely opposite opinion and say that the two poems have nothing to with each other. Langston Hughes did many things in his life. Some of them include being an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and a

My people is one of Langston Hughes’ poems which is about working class black African American people. In this poem, he compared the beauty of nature to the beauty of his people. My people is a very short poem, built in three stanzas which consist of two lines in each stanza. This poem was written in simple language, therefore, the readers can easily understand what he is trying to convey. I believe, beneath its simple words, this poem depicts the beauty of working class black African American people that go beyond the beauty of physical appearance.

As time has passed humanity still tends to separate each other based on our racial being rather than seeing each other as one human race. Langston Hughes’s, “A New Song,” published in 1938 introduces the idea of a new vision of social relations in American society. Hughes’s original version of this poem written in 1933, does not encompass his growing anger on this subject that is dwelled upon in his published version. However, with Hughes’s powerful tone and word choice throughout his 1938 rendition, his reader is able to understand his urge to transform America into an interracial culture. (Central Idea) His poem voices the importance of transforming society into a multiethnic unity and working-class established through cultural ties between whites and blacks. (Thesis) Hughes voices this crucial need to change through his emphasis on African American’s past struggles as opposed to the new dream, his militant tone, and through expressing the role that the establishment of cultural ties plays in society.

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.

The speaker uses end–stops to emphasize his confidence in his identity. The sextet has a plethora of metaphors which may stand for American society. Moreover, the speaker deploys imagery, such as, “darker brother”, “tables”, and “company” which frames America more as a salad bowl versus a salad bowl due to the lack of true integration into society (2). For instance, the imagery alludes that the poem’s theme is really about race and discrimination as one might assume when reading. Given these points, the poem illustrates the speaker’s critique of a larger order. In the following line, the line break allows the reader to pause before beginning the next line in the stanza, which introduces the imagery of a kitchen. The metaphor of the kitchen suggests the theme of a second class citizen subjected to segregation in the United States. In doing so, the speaker inadvertently compares his position to a servant when he states that the company shoos him away to eat in the kitchen like a servant against his own will. The speaker’s language suggests that he compares his position to the role of a servant and master to describe his present experiences with segregation. Despite being shunned due to his racial background, the speaker’s triumph is illustrated in a series of enjambements and commas that guide the reader: “But I laugh/And eat well” (5–7). Langston Hughes

The history of slavery raises questions for the American dream and proves that it can greatly deter the dream for some. The American dream has always been about prosperity and freedom, yet slavery has hindered that for African Americans. Aren’t African Americans American too? Why couldn’t they be included in this “dream”. This makes you wonder, is the American dream for all Americans, does history play a role in this idea?

The dream of achieving a college education and reaching for the stars in an attempt to achieve lifelong dreams became a dream deferred for many African Americans in the early years of this great nation. Dreams of becoming a doctor, an attorney, or an engineer were completely off limits for African Americans because of this country's rigid caste system. Because of slavery and Jim Crow laws, society forced Blacks to do menial jobs, which kept the majority of them stuck in the country's lower class, praying for a day when equality would be available for all.

According to Jean Wagner in Black Poets of the United States, the dream that Hughes writes of represents the democratic ideal of liberty and equality; the history of the dream is actually the history of the founding and building of America. The dream of black people has always been closely blended with the American dream, which is not yet a reality for all (Anstendig & Hicks 239).

The American Dream is problematic both because of how what it stands for and what it creates. It was built and is maintained on the oppression of black people. It also creates blindness and ignorance to racial divides in this country among the people living in it (including black people). My third take-away is that the police everyone seems to have a problem with in this country reflect the people in it. Coates writes that the body cameras and police reform people are advocating for only distances them from the police when in fact, the police are only acting on the fears of those living in the

In today’s society we face a lot of issues, but there is one issue that stands out to me most. Which these two poems address, that is injustice towards other race in America. In Langston Hughes “I Too” and “The Weary Blues” the trouble of unjust towards African Americans, weigh on the speaker’s mind. Each poem reflecting on the same issue just a little bit differently.

In order to understand Hughes' idea of the "dream deferred," one must have a working knowledge of the history of Harlem. It was first intended to be the home of an upper class white community, many fancy brownstones attracted wealthy whites. Between 1906 and 1910, when whites were forcing blacks out of their own homes and neighborhoods in uptown Manhattan, the blacks began to move into Harlem to create their communities again. Due to absurd racial fears, the whites in the area began to move out. Between 1910 and the early 1940's, more blacks began flooding into the area for a safe harbor from all over the world, fleeing from the racial intolerance of the South and the economic problems of the Caribbean and Latin America. At this point, Harlem became an entirely black area where comfort was created for all of them. Although it seemed to be

Through the usage of euphony, Hughes softly calls out the matter of racism, an issue is barely touched on in America today. At the time I Too was written in 1925, this soft call depicts the fear and suppression the “darker brother” (Hughes) of America faced. While the euphony created by the patterns of the lines “ But I laugh/ And eat well,/ And grow strong” (Hughes) portrays their nonviolent protest against this untouched oppressive force of racism, today, the euphony behind the positive dictions such as “company” (Hughes) in this poem presents the issue as if it is simply the difference between “ea[ting] in the kitchen” or eating “ at the table. The usage of euphony depicts that the issue of racism is easier said than done, for that the issue was never solved but only modernized. Hence, this parallel emphasizes how understated the issue of racism is in America, while at the same time contradicting the reality of the issue