Gwendolyn Brooks 'The Bean Eaters'

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Clyde Saligumba Professor Dr. Glomski HON 121 27 March, 2024 “The Bean Eaters”: The Importance of the Past and Poverty What is the meaning of life? An eternal question that remains unanswered, yet has infinite answers. The meaning of a person’s life can be interpreted differently by everyone. Only the person themselves can give their lives meaning. Gwendolyn Brooks was a black poet of the 20th century. Her poems highlighted the problems of poverty and discrimination. Her poems glance at the perspective of life through the eyes of many different people, each with different meanings in their lives. Her efforts allowed her to become the first black poet to win the Pulitzer Prize. One of her most famous poems was “The Bean Eaters”. The poem centers around an old couple eating beans. The poem is a …show more content…

Brooks utilizes the following two lines to further encourage the idea that life doesn’t end in old age. One must continue to live normally and be hopeful until their passing. The idea of “putting on their clothes”(Brooks, line 7) symbolizes getting up, and getting ready and “putting things away”(Brooks, line 8) means to clean up. Even when they are old and withered, a fragment of their former peaks remains; they continue to live. Brooks is trying to establish that living doesn’t end with death, it ends when one gives up. The past couple of lines also support this idea by showcasing that the couple didn’t falter throughout the struggles of poverty and remained happy. Throughout their entire lives, they wake up, get ready, and always clean up. The importance of lines 7-8 is to show that the couple doesn’t take shortcuts. Once that cycle breaks, so does the hope for a happy life. But, when that life nears the end, one is given time to reflect and remember their life. Remembering” brings the past back to life. Whether “twinklings” or “twinges”, pleasure or pain, the past holds one’s

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