Freedom Train by Langston Hughes

859 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Significance of freedom train langston hughes

Many have different definitions for freedom but I believe freedom is having the right to speak, think and act as an independent individual and in the poem “Freedom train”, this train is said to be a train of freedom where blacks and whites are treated as equals. This poem was written during the period of slavery and is about a man desperately waiting for the arrival of the freedom train and hoping it is truly what it is said to be. I decided to focus more on this theme because I believe it is most obvious and clearly stated in this poem. Langston Hughes "Freedom Train" is a very imaginative poem and his idea of being free is clearly stated from the beginning of this poem. However, although he clearly states everything he wants the reader to think deeper about his words before everything becomes clearer. Firstly the repetition of “freedom train” throughout the poem places emphasis on the persona’s anticipation for freedom to come. The poem starts of by him wanting to know all about a special train he keeps hearing of. He says, "I read in the papers about the Freedom Train/I heard on the radio about the Freedom Train." It sounds like the persona is ignorant about what exactly this train represents and he is very curious, because he uses words and phrases like “who/why/I hope/I’m going to checkup”, to portray a sense of ignorance about the train in the 10th, 15th, and 17th lines respectively. There are also many rhetorical questions asked which portrays a sense of ignorance. It also signifies that the subject of freedom is an elusive concept and not something they are used to. Getting towards the heart of the poem Hughes becomes more concerned about the rules and right on this train. He doubts that most African Americans would be... ... middle of paper ... ...the train as a metaphor to say that freedom is a very powerful concept that is worth propagating because it essential. Another reason I believed the train to be a metaphor was because of the Underground Railroads which the blacks used to escape from slavery. When you think of African Americans and freedom, you also think of the Underground Railroads because the history of how African Americans gained freedom revolves around the railways and how they had to cross it to enter the “land of the free” in which most of them where caught and massacred. To conclude the poem is an historical allusion and the theme of freedom is well portrayed. The irony of this poem is, as Hughes points out, the fact that the Americans were celebrating this Freedom Train and documents assuring our freedom, while African Americans were still not considered equal citizens by white Americans.

Show More
Related

  • How Does Langston Hughes Use Strength In Mother To Son

    1500 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Negro Speaks of Rivers and Mother to Son, explained the importance of the woman, light and darkness and strength in the African-American community. Hughes made a very clear and concise statement in focusing on women and the power they hold, light and darkness, and strength. Did his poems properly display the feelings of African-American’s in that time period? It is apparent that Hughes felt a sense of pride in his culture and what they had to endure. After all “Life ain’t been no crystal stair!”(Norton, Line 2, 2028)

    Read More

  • Susan Glaspell's Trifles

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his poems, Langston Hughes treats racism not just a historical fact but a “fact” that is both personal and real. Hughes often wrote poems that reflect the aspirations of black poets, their desire to free themselves from the shackles of street life, poverty, and hopelessness. He also deliberately pushes for artistic independence and race pride that embody the values and aspirations of the common man. Racism is real, and the fact that many African-Americans are suffering from a feeling of extreme rejection and loneliness demonstrate this claim. The tone is optimistic but irritated. The same case can be said about Wright’s short stories. Wright’s tone is overtly irritated and miserable. But this is on the literary level. In his short stories, he portrays the African-American as a suffering individual, devoid of hope and optimism. He equates racism to oppression, arguing that the African-American experience was and is characterized by oppression, prejudice, and injustice. To a certain degree, both authors are keen to presenting the African-American experience as a painful and excruciating experience – an experience that is historically, culturally, and politically rooted. The desire to be free again, the call for redemption, and the path toward true racial justice are some of the themes in their

    Read More

  • Why, You Reckon By Langston Hughes

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever heard the expression money isn’t everything? Well it’s true and in Langston Hughes short story, “Why, You reckon,” Hughes reveals his theme of how people aren’t always as happy as they seem when they have lots of money.

    Read More

  • Hughes, Lucille Clifton, And I, Too, By Langston Hughes

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    This poem is often compared to Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing because of the similarities of the two poems. In this poem, Hughes argues that the African American race is equal to whites. Hughes even declares that one day the African American race will be equal to whites. Hughes proclaims, “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed-I, too, am America.” Hughes was very bold and daring when he wrote these lines in this poem. He is implying that the white people will regret what they have done to blacks. That they will be ashamed of how they treated them. Undoubtedly, this poem expresses Hughes cultural identity.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Narrative

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    Though this poem is only a small snapshot of what I personally thought Douglass was going through, I could never adequately understand the frustration he must have had. My hope in writing this poem was not to provide a psychoanalysis or theoretical idea structure to any audience, but rather to show that even today, a modern audience member like me, can appreciate the struggle of a fellow human and speak against injustices, specifically in Douglass’s time.

    Read More

  • Comparing Poems 'I, Too And' Theme For English B

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    The civil rights movement may have technically ended in the nineteen sixties, but America is still feeling the adverse effects of this dark time in history today. African Americans were the group of people most affected by the Civil Rights Act and continue to be today. Great pain and suffering, though, usually amounts to great literature. This period in American history was no exception. Langston Hughes was a prolific writer before, during, and after the Civil Rights Act and produced many classic poems for African American literature. Hughes uses theme, point of view, and historical context in his poems “I, Too” and “Theme for English B” to expand the views on African American culture to his audience members.

    Read More

  • The Narrative of Fredrick Douglass

    732 Words  | 2 Pages

    The detail present in the narrative helps convey the tones of liberation and fear. Douglass recalls the “blessedness of freedom,” of not having to wonder if it would be a day of “life or death,” yet he was able to live and “succeed in reaching New York without the slightest interruption.” Attaining freedom was the highest goal for Fredrick Douglass. As a slave each day he would wake up wondering if he would live to see tomorrow, due to his strength he was able to live on and succeed in reaching the safe state.

    Read More

  • Messages from Point of View in Langston Hughes’ I too

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    Because of that, his writing seems to manifest a greater meaning. He is part of the African-American race that is expressed in his writing. He writes about how he is currently oppressed, but this does not diminish his hope and will to become the equal man. Because he speaks from the point of view of an oppressed African-American, the poem’s struggles and future changes seem to be of greater importance than they ordinarily would. The point of view of being the oppressed African American is clearly evident in Langston Hughes’s writing.

    Read More

  • Subway Rush Hour Equalizing Diction

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    Langston Hughes was a pioneer for human rights. Not excluded from his cause is the poem Subway Rush Hour. The poem describes this subway car carrying so many lives barreling towards it destination. The people on the subway for a short time are equal. The reader discovers that just as the little pockets of peace branch off throughout the city that so should the equality in each car. These niches of harmony rush forward to take over the future and pervade through the entire United States. The speaker “Subway Rush Hour” argues that forced unity will spread equality through the use of equalizing diction, the title, and change of tone from uncomfortable to hopeful.

    Read More

  • Freedom: To the African American Slave

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is freedom? This question is easy enough to answer today. To many, the concept of freedom we have now is a quality of life free from the constraints of a person or a government. In America today, the thought of living a life in which one was “owned” by another person, seems incomprehensible. Until 1865 however, freedom was a concept that many African Americans only dreamed of. Throughout early American Literature freedom and the desire to be free has been written and spoken about by many. Insight into how an African-American slave views freedom and what sparks their desire to receive it can be found in any of the “Slave Narratives” of early American literature, from Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustav Vassa, the African published in 1789, to Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself which was published in 1845. Phillis Wheatley’s poetry and letters and Martin R. Delany’s speech Political Destiny of the Colored Race in the American Continent also contain examples of the African-American slaves’ concepts of freedom; all the similarities and differences among them.

    Read More

  • Harlem by Langston Hughes

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    population is oppressed and must ignore or postpone their dreams. The more dreams are postponed

    Read More

  • I, Too by Langston Hughes

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    When looking at the poem, Hughes expresses the pride that he has in his heritage and in who h...

    Read More

  • The Negro Speaks of Rivers

    554 Words  | 2 Pages

    Analyzing the poem’s title sets a somber, yet prideful tone for this poem. The fact that the title does not say “I Speak of Rivers,” but instead, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” (1) shows that he is not only a Negro, but that he is not one specific Negro, but in his first person commentary, he is speaking for all Negroes. However, he is not just speaking for any Negroes. Considering the allusions to “Mississippi” (9) and “Abe Lincoln” (9) are not only to Negroes but also to America, confirms that Hughes is talking for all African Americans. This poem is a proclamation on the whole of African American history as it has grown and flourished along the rivers which gave life to these people.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Langston Hughes' Poem, Freedom Train

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Towards the middle of the poem the realist in Hughes comes out. He goes into the doubts that most African Americans had at the time. He says, "Down South in Dixie only train I sees got a Jim Crow car set aside for me." Another interesting technique he adds is when he capitalizes the "WHITE FOLKS ONLY" and "FOR COLORED" signs. He either does this to draw attention to the cause, or to try and know what it feels like to have these signs sticking in your face. He specifically mentions Birmingham, Mississippi, and Georgia during the poem. These were key cities that were into segregation of the South. "When it stops in Mississippi will it be made plain everybody's got a right to board the freedom train." Hughes almost is becoming a little agitated in the poem when he refers to these cities, especially when he is talking about Birmingham. "The Birmingham station's marked COLORED and WHITE, the white folks go left, the colored go right." In this part of the poem, he is questioning whether or not this Freedom Train is too good to be true. He sounds like he doubts a little of what this Freedom Train is all about. He knows there is a train, but there have been a lot of promises before that were not fulfilled, he does not want to get his hopes up before he finds out more about this train.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Freedom in Poetry

    2586 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Theme of Freedom in Poetry Write about three poems on freedom: On Liberty and Slavery (George Moses Horton), Sympathy (Paul Laurence Dunbar) and Caged Bird (Maya Angelou). I have chosen to write about three poems on freedom: On Liberty and Slavery (George Moses Horton), Sympathy (Paul Laurence Dunbar) and Caged Bird (Maya Angelou). The full text of the poems is attached.

    Read More

More about Freedom Train by Langston Hughes

Open Document