The Purpose Of Equality In Langston Hughes's 'Democracy'

Fair does not always mean equal. Fair and equal are not the same this can be illustrated in the similarities and differences between Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut and Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have a Dream speech.”

Equality can be interpreted in many ways, as we can see throughout the history such as racial, gender, and socio-economic equality. The Civil Rights emphasize that everybody should be treated equally and another view is the one represented in the story that everybody is equal. It is a completely out of reality to have a perfect society or no competition at all because how we could make advancements if the government was allowed to impose handicaps on the naturally gifted. The great thinkers would not be able to have new ideas because of the mental

He gives extensive reasoning to why he thinks this by saying things such as, “I am a man. This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before” (Rand 95). Equality is placing value on the individual and what they want rather than having to conform to the group. While some might say that Equality is incorrect, and he should care about the needs of a group if he wants to change the world and make it greater, this is incorrect. To change the world and make it greater you must care for the needs of individuals as well as the group. Morals such as these are what the government of America was built

Vonnegut successfully makes point, that trying to make a perfect world, where all things are equal, is impossible and will cause trouble. In the 1960’s equal rights were a big goal to achieve. People aiming towards equal rights for blacks, women, and even homosexuals. Vonnegut uses

This is important because inequality causes unrest and brings about interminable turmoil which can eventually lead to a collapse of a regime or a state. If every human being is given equal opportunities then the outcome after those opportunities were presented, whether it was success of failure, fully rests upon the individual’s shoulders. In case of failure, the government or any other individual would not be held accountable.

Often times our society confuses equality for equal. Although the words may look same and share similar letters, the two have completely different definitions. As an African American citizen living in America I feel like we focus much on being equal opposed to having equality. Thus when having equality you are giving equal opportunity and more door become available, despite when being equal you are just like everyone else. However, unlike the novel “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I would rather have equality than to be one hundred percent equal to someone else. When making everyone equal you take away ones individuality, creativity, and strengths; eliminating competition and status feuds. Yet in order for them to make everyone equal they must instill fear and diagnoses everyone with false handicaps.

Equality is described as “the condition of being equal, especially by, about having the same political, social, and economic rights.” Ever since the United States was established, equality meant a symbol of hope, freedom and the chance to live a fair life with many opportunities. Nevertheless, Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of America who was part of the National Union Party and Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister who became one of the most well-known leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. In Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address Speech and King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, both convey the significance of equality during the time.

In the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, everyone in society is equal. In today’s society we fight for equality, but this book is an eye opener of what true equality is really like. Equality, while it seems like it would be a utopian future, may actually turn out to be a dystopian future. Even in a society such as the one in the book, there can never be true equality. No matter how many rules they have, there is always going to be something that isn’t equal. For example in the book, Anthem, the main character, Equality, is taller than most people as well as smarter. In the book, when you leave the Home of the Students the Council of Vocations chooses your job for you. If you think about what you want to do after you leave the Home of the Students, it is considered sin. When Equality goes to the Council of Vocations, he admits that he was guilty of Transgression of Preference. The Council of Vocations gave Equality the job of street sweeper. Before leaving the Home of the Students, Equality had wanted to be a scholar. The scholars were allowed to ask questions and they invented everything. Because Equality was smart he knew everything the teachers taught him before they even taught it. The teachers forbade Equality to ask questions and he was lashed more than the other students. Equality wanted to

As Will Rogers once said, “We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.” In the novel Anthem, by Ayn Rand, the main character, Equality, is presented to the reader as smart, tall, and one who thinks for himself. On first glance none of these things would seem bad, but in the society of Anthem, all three of those things are considered wrong. The irony in this is how Equality in the novel does not fit the society’s view on equality. With a world very different than that society, it is very important to see what equality means today and God’s view on being equal.

“To live Anywhere in the and be against equality is like living in Alaska and being against snow.”-William Faulkner. This quote means that it is impossible to live in this era and be against equality because it is so supported and so may people are pro equality it is hard to explain against it. Today by just looking in the News you will see all the hate people will give you if you dare to hate on other races. sadly back then it was accepted to hate blacks or other races but luckily today it is a sin to hate on others who don't look like you.

“What is equality?” one might ask. We all have different views on specific topics and can describe what something truly means to one’s self like in the 3 text, “I have a dream,” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (published; 8/28/1963, genre; narrative and argumentative), “If we must die,” by Claude Mckay (published; 1919, genre; narrative and lyric), & “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (published; October 1961, genre; satirical & dystopian science-fiction short story). In all 3 texts the authors are giving their touch on equality. Equality can convey being treated the same when a colored and a white man/woman are next to each other as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr says. You can also see equality as Mckay who thinks it’s being on the same level of strength and worth as a white man being in the shoes of a colored man. Or equality can be being exactly the same in every way as anyone around you in every exact way in Vonnegut’s eyes. All these 3 authors have a particular view on how to answer “What is equality?” and we can compare their ideas.

Langston Hughes inspired others to reach their true potential in their work by using their own life as a catalyst:

In our journey through life, we all have certain expectations of how we would like our lives to be. All of us strive to reach a certain level of self-actulization and acceptance. It could thus be said that all of us live a dream. Some of these individual dreams inevitably become the collective dream of many people. In "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)", Langston Hughes makes use of symbolism as well as powerful sensory imagery to show us the emotions that he and his people go through in their quest for freedom and equality. By using questions he builds the poem towards an exciting climax.

Langston Hughes was an African American writer who took the literary world by storm in the twentieth century. Hughes was known for incorporating African American culture into his poems and plays. Langston Hughes did this so much so that per, "Masterplots II: African American Literature" he was "…recognized as the unofficial poet laureate of the African American urban experience…" (Niemi). Hughes has written several poems in his career. Most of them have a theme of racial pride incorporated somewhere in the poems. By analyzing Langston Hughes's writings, it can be inferred that the poems "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", "Negro" and "I, Too" all have the theme of racial pride.

According to Biography, James Mercer Langston Hughes is considered to be an African American poet who is college educated and comes from a middle-class family (Langston Hughes Biography). He attended college in New York City and became influential during the Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes Biography). Although Hughes was a talented writer, he faced some challenges early on and it was stated that his “early work was roundly criticized by many black intellectuals for portraying what they thought to be an unattractive view of black life” (Langston Hughes. American Poet). They believed that his work helps the spread the stereotypes of African Americans. “Hughes, more than any other black poet or writer, recorded faithfully the nuances of black life and its frustrations” (Langston Hughes. American Poet). Langston Hughes’s poems “The Negro Mother”, “Let America be America Again” and “The Weary Blues” were influenced by his life during the Harlem Renaissance and the racial inequality experienced in the late 1920s through the 1960s.