Mulatto By Langston Hughes Meaning

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We had various poems to read by Langston Hughes this week but I wanted to focus on one in particular by the name of “Mulatto”. Langston Hughes, a poet who wrote during the Harlem Renaissance in New York City. I think a bit of his historical background is important to a poem such as “Mulatto”. Langston Hughes comes from a mixed race background and was raised by his maternal grandmother, a proud African American woman. She instilled in him his pride for his lineage which led him to write.
After learning a bit about Hughes, led me to believe that “Mulatto” was a poem directed at his own father but not entirely. Mulatto is defined as a term to refer to a person born of one white parent and one black person. Langston Hughes father was not of Caucasian …show more content…

It is used as solvents such as paint thinner and is dangerous to the skin and lungs if inhaled. This I believe was another nod to the young man skins and how dangerous he can be to a family as he is the product of mixed sexual contact. Something not viewed as acceptable in the 1920s. The pillars falling were the strong lineage the boy should have to his father but it has fallen. This young man does not know his place as he would not be accepted by either sides of race. He would be considering too light for African Americans and too dark for the Caucasian side of his family. Another interpretation I had was the dusk sky mixing with the turpentine woods, was a hint at his mixed background of night and day coming together. Although these were just the first few lines, one could take apart this poem line by line and connect it to his other works. Hughes does a great job at making a reader become a part of the story or poem and his tone of hurt, anger and frustration radiates with each line. This is one of the first works this semester that I feel I can write a great paper

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