In Langston Hughes’ allusion poem to Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing”, Hughes introduces the idea of the “..darker brother” (line 2) to Whitman’s everyday workers. In his poem “I, Too, Sing America”, Hughes uses a combination of conceit, optimistic diction, and enjambment to convey the discrimination the African American community had to go through and their hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow.. During the Segregation Period (roughly 1832 to 1964), African Americans were separated from the Whites in most public places. In the second stanza, Hughes wrote “They will send me in the kitchen/when company comes” (lines 3-4). This conceit represents him being segregated from society, and sent to a separate place to do normal activities, such as eating, as African American had to do during that time period. During the beginning of the Segregation Period many African Americans held on to the idea of one day gaining total freedom from discrimination, but as the period went on, they became less and less optimistic. In the third stanza, Hughes states that “Nobody'll dare/Say to me,/"Eat in the kitchen," (lines 11-13) representing his hope that segregation will end sometime. …show more content…
In line 8, Hughes states that “Tomorrow,/I'll be at the table/When company comes.” The word “Tomorrow” suggests that he believes that the end of segregation is soon, though not happening presently. Even though many years of fighting for equal rights had not yet yielded results, Hughes still held onto the hope of a better tomorrow. At the end of the stanza, Hughes finished with a single word: “Then.”(line 14). This suggests that he knows that desegregation is not going to happen overnight, but that it will happen. Even though it seemed out of reach at the time, Hughes strongly believed that they would make it through the segregation and gain the equal rights they had wanted for so
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.
In the line “I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen” (Hughes 2-3) is denial of a particular person due to the pigmentation of their skin. The African American race had to suffer and be treated differently because of one small detail that was out of their control. Many individuals struggled with how they were treated during this time and others let such treatment make them stronger. As seen in the following lines “Nobody’ll dare say to me, “Eat in the kitchen, then.” Hughes illustrates that the narrator is in touch with being the same as everyone else. These lines show that he knows what he deserves and he will stand up for himself. Guilt of being a certain race is not hanging over the narrator’s head unlike many others who feel defeated. This poem stands for those who see themselves equally with the ones that look down upon them. “I, too, am America” is a testament of faith in his countrymen and women to recognize and appreciate the contribution of African-American citizens.” (Lewis) shows that America should be proud of the strong ethnic mix. Hughes possessed optimism for all human beings and took a lot of pride in showing that through his
In this poem Hughes writes “I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars / I am the Negro, servant to you all” (20-31), these lines state that he understands that his ancestors too had to fight for chang...
Here Hughes is stating very generally and unspecific how he wishes for peace and love. Something that everyone would like but will probably never come true. This statement is an excellent attention getter. It tells about a dream that everyone would like without singling out any group of people to blame for the dream not coming true. Then as the poem goes on he gets more and more specific. Hughes then goes on to dream that everyone “Will know sweet freedoms way,/Where greed no longer sa...
Another example of Hughes’s constant struggles with racism and his inner and thoughtful response to that is clearly seen when he recalls being denied the right to sit at the same table. His point of view identifies that he was not able to sit at the table because he was an African-American. Yet, he remains very optimistic in not letting his misfortune please what is considered the “white-man” in the poem. Langston Hughes’s states,
From lines 16-25 Hughes repeats the first stanza of the poem with minor changes to the order of t the words; this perhaps is now when the child is now remembering his past. Another interpretation is that when the child became a grownup instead of being afraid of the adults in his life, he is afraid now of life itself, and death.
Hughes uses diction to show how the Negro mother was treated and discriminated as a slave. In the poem, the speaker uses diction to elaborate and display an image to future African American Children of today about the way she was treated as a slave. For example, the words “labored”, “slave”, “beaten”, and “mistreated” gives a sense of imagery to her targeted audience about the way African Americans were treated. The reason is because when the speaker stated “I am the one who labored as a slave, Beaten and mistreated for the work that I gave – Children sold away from me, I’m husband sold, too”, each word shows the hardship the Negro mother had to go through in order to survive towards liberty. The words “beaten” and “mistreated” displays how
Though dealing with the situation is difficult, the poem goes on to express that going through this ordeal has only strengthened the resolve of the African American community. Lines 4-9 of this poem speak to toughness and resolve of the African American community in the fight to gain equality. McKay even goes as far ...
The contradiction of being both black and American was a great one for Hughes. Although this disparity was troublesome, his situation as such granted him an almost begged status; due to his place as a “black American” poet, his work was all the more accessible. Hughes’ black experience was sensationalized. Using his “black experience” as a façade, however, Hughes was able to obscure his own torments and insecurities regarding his ambiguous sexuality, his parents and their relationship, and his status as a public figure.
On the surface, the message of the poem is one of contempt and wishful thinking; the speaker claims that “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table” and that no one will “dare say to me, ‘eat in the kitchen,’” however these declarations can be interpreted as just irate, spiteful reactions to discrimination that the speaker has experienced, and are unlikely to become true. On the other hand, the first and final lines of the poem create a deeper, more profound statement of racial discrimination in the United States. When the speaker states “I, too, sing America,” he is trying to make the rest of America, particularly the white supremacists, realize that African Americans are part of the United Sates as well, that. The word choice of “sing” has a patriotic connotation, which is supported by the image of black Americans singing in praise of America. In addition, in the final line, the speaker states that “I, too, am America,” directly stating that African Americans are a part of America as much as any other race, further emphasizing that the black and white races, despite their differences, are aggregate within the United States of
During the 1900s, many African Americans experienced the effects of racial segregation but they still had hope, their oppression did not stop their belief for future change. In “I, Too, Sing, America”, Langston Hughes has makes it clear that he envisions change. In the beginning of the poem, he speaks of being treated differently than others in his home, making it hard to live equally. Hughes writes, “I am the darker brother, they send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes” (Line). He chooses to discuss this issue because his darker shade of skin in comparison to the other residents in his home, makes it possible for him to eat separately so that he will not be seen by the guests; this depicts segregation in his home due to race. Because of the racial conflicts that Hughes experiences, he hopes that there is some form of change in the future, where he can sit equally with others. He goes on to write, “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes, nobody’ll dare say to me, eat in the kitchen “(Line). Hughes...
The poem begins "I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother." From those two lines alone, one can see that he is proud of who he is and introducing himself to the reader. In the line "I, too, sing America" he is explaining that he is an American like everyone else in the country, but he is only of a darker skin color as he follows up in line two with "I am the darker brother." He says that even though he is of another color he is still an American and he should not be treated any differently from any other American.
Thesis: The poems “Negro”, “I Too”, and “Song for a Dark Girl” by Langston Hughes was written around an era of civil inequality. A time when segregation was a customary thing and every African American persevered through civil prejudice. Using his experience, he focuses his poems on racial and economic inequality. Based on his biographical information, he uses conflict to illustrate the setting by talking about hardships only a Negro would comprehend and pride only a Negro can experience, which helps maintain his racial inequality theme.
The poem begins by introducing the limitations of the African Americans’ hopes and dreams in the form of a question. Hughes asks, “What happens to a dream deferred” (1). Here, the dream refers to the African Americans’ yearning for equality and freedom, and Hughes wants to examine what happens when that dream is persistently pushed aside. The spacing directly after this line conjures a sense of silence as if allowing a moment to contemplate the question. The lines following this question explore several possible outcomes, and each answer represents the ruin of a forgotten dream.
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.