Literary Analysis Of Langston Hughes 's ' The Road '

In “Liberating Christ: Sargeant’s Metamorphosis in Langston Hughes’s “On the Road,” Carolyn P. Walker talks about what she feels the story “On the Road” is about. She does make some interesting points, but I feel like some of them are not correct. Walker’s main points support the opinion that the story is based on racism and also claims that it is a “Reenactment of the Biblical story [Samson and Delilah]” (749). While racism may be touched upon in the story, I feel that the main point of this story is to show the influence of money in Christian society.

Thesis statement: Hughes wrote this when Jim Crow laws were still imposing an bitter segregated society in the South. There were still lynchings of innocent African Americans, there was no Civil Rights Movement, there was no Civil Rights legislation yet, and Blacks couldn't eat at lunch counters in the South. Harlem, however, was not at all like the South in terms of blatant, legal segregation. However, racism was very much in place in many places in America. Blacks were second class citizens, their children attended schools that were ill-equipped, and the dreams of Black citizens were not being realized in this period.

Langston Hughes clearly connects with a wide range of audiences through the simplicity that surrounds his poetry. The beauty of this manner in which he wrote his poetry, is that it grasp people by illustrating his narratives of the common lifestyles experienced by the current American generation. His art form expresses certain questionable ideologies of life and exposes to the audience what it takes to fully comprehend what being an American truly means. Each individual poem describes and illustrates the strength and hardships the African American community was experiencing. Through his literature art form of poetry, Hughes was able to convey the common assertions of

In Langston Hughes, "On the Road" the Sargeant is a homeless Black man that is desperate for food and shelter. In his desperation, Sargeant goes to the church to refuge, but there is no one at the Church to help him get refuge. Although Sargent is living in a time where the depression is in existence amongst all people, Black and White, he finds no one to help him. Sargent goes to the Church because the Church helps people. However, because Sargeant is Black and the Church is populated by a White congregation, he is rejected. In the story " One the Road", one of the people: A big black unemployed Negro holding onto our church... "The idea"! This represents that Sargent wants the benefits of the white

Doors, Religion and Racial Segregation: “On the Road” by Langston Hughes How would you feel if you were constantly on the run just to find a place to sleep and eat? In Langston Hughes’s story, “On the road”, there is a discussion of symbolism and how doors, religion and racial segregation have an implicit meaning in relation to the great depression in the United States of America. Langston Hughes was an African American writer that was well known for his insight on black culture in America from 1920-1960. He was a social activist and he was openly Gay. Being gay in the time period of 1920-1960 was not heard of very often and it was often frowned upon and for Hughes to be open about his sexuality is very critical from that particular period

The only thing the Reverend saw when he open the door was “ a human piece of night”, a black man. To the Reverend, which had noticed the “snow” (aware they were in an all white town) viewed Sargeant as someone in a place he does not belong. Sargeant was a black

Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is his post-apocalyptic magnus opus which combines a riveting plot along with an unconventional prose style. Released in 2006, the novel has won awards such as the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award (Wilson). Oprah Winfrey also selected the book for her book club ("Cormac McCarthy”). The author, Cormac McCarthy, was born in 1933 in Rhode Island and is said to have wrote the novel because of his son and their relationship. The Road centers around a boy and his father while they try to survive after an unknown disaster occurs. While some people may argue that the unusual style takes away from the novel, it adds to the tone and meaning of the work.

Langston Hughes uses beautiful symbolism and imagery in his literary work “On the Road”. Hughes offers up the idea that if one is to open ones heart; life will provide unlimited abundance. In this literary work, Langston Hughes uses nature to demonstrate and symbolize the unwillingness of his main character, Sargeant, to participate in life. Hughes also demonstrates the use of a person’s anger and instinct to survive and how they both can be used as powerful forces in breaking down racial barriers. Another more impacting symbol Hughes uses is Jesus Christ as a metaphor. Hughes uses this to show how people experience life and how the traditional church values contradict each other when it comes to the acceptance of human beings. Therefore

Why is homelessness so high? Shouldn’t it be decreasing over the years? These are some significant questions that may be too difficult to answer. The word vagrant, which can be interpreted as harsh, can be used interchangeably with homeless which is in fact more commonly used today. The dictionary defines vagrant as a “person who has no place to live…wander idly from place to place (“vagrant”). In “On the Road,” the author, “Langston Hughes” provides a short story of a vagrant, Sargeant, who during the great depression, on a cold, snowy evening, attempts to get some food and shelter. Sargeant is a round character; who is black, hungry, exhausted, disorderly and somnolent.

Imagine yourself living in a barren, desolate, cold, dreary world, with a constant fear of the future. The Road, written by Cormac McCarthy and published in 2006, is a vivid and heartwarming novel that takes us through the journey of a father and a son as they travel South in a post-apocalyptic environment facing persistent challenges and struggles. McCarthy proves that love unleashes immense strength to overcome obstacles, even in times of desperation.

     Langston Hughes’s writing showcases a variety of themes and moods, and his distinguished career led his biographer, Arnold Rampersad, to describe him as “perhaps the most representative black American writer.” Many of his poems illustrate his role as a spokesman for African American society and the working poor. In others, he relates his ideas on the importance of heritage and the past. Hughes accomplishes this with a straightforward, easily understandable writing style that clearly conveys his thoughts and opinions, although he has frequently been criticized for the slightly negative tone to his works.

Langston Hughes, author of the short story "On the Road" and the poem "Mother to Son," often illustrated in his writing the hardships experienced by the characters--products of African American life in the United States. While Hughes and other young African-American authors wanted to define and celebrate black art and culture, they were also responsible for changing the preconceived notions of most Americans' erroneous ideas of black life (Mabunda

Langston Hughes's short story "On the Road" begins and ends realistically enough: his protagonist, Sargeant, enters a strange town one winter's night during the Depression and finds himself without shelter, as many did during this era. Hughes gives Sargeant the additional burden of being an African-American in the "white" part of town; therefore, he faces the perfectly plausible obstacles of shelters that "drew the color line" and racist police officers who beat and imprison him. But despite the realistic beginning and ending of the story, Hughes places an elaborate fantasy segment involving Sargeant talking to a stone Christ who has "broken off the cross" in the story's middle.

A little boy, accompanied by his mother, holds a ticket as he looks excitedly at a county

The poem "Cross" by Langston Hughes sensationalizes the battle of being biracial; especially in the mid 1900 's.This poem dramatizes the problems of his ethnic roots, and growing up biracial in a time period and country that primarily sees blacks and whites. In this poem, Hughes is expressing his disappointment of being of both high contrasts however considering the fact that he could never have an honorable place in neither of the two races nor be acknowledged by neither of the two racial classes. Particularly considering the way that African Americans didn 't care for the fact that he was not a true black man because half white, this theory came about simply because they felt as though they were betrayed. Whites still looked downward upon him on the grounds that he was half African American and he was not adequate enough to consider himself a true white man. In addition to feeling isolated by both racial classes; white and dark, he doesn 't know where he will wind up on the grounds that he 's blended/ (biracial) not of completely one race. So that is the place where his perplexity lies, he considers how he will wind up. Affluent like his father or poor like his mother. He is not certain whether he will kick the bucket, a regarded white or a disregarded dark. In the same way as other different blacks in his time, he combat with his character by accusing his guardians for his difficulties and confusion as an adolescent. When he developed, he understood that he was not right