Dissecting Rebellion: Analysis of 'We Real Cool'

The pool players that were no more.
The poem, “We Real Cool”, was written by Gwendolyn Brooks. In the poem, she describes the pool player’s characteristics and their attitudes. By the tone of the poet, and the words used, you can tell that Brooks is not similar to these characters. She is telling a story of other people’s lives that she may have had knowledge of. It seems as though, she may have known the characters and watched them as they went about their daily activities. The poem is short, but tells a vivid story about the pool players.
The poem “We Real Cool” is the story of young kids, possibly teens, who are rebellious, uneducated, and arrogant. It states: “We real cool. We left school. We lurk late. We strike straight. We sing sin. We thin gin. We jazz June. We die soon.” (l.1-8) The poem talks about the pool players and their lives. It seems as though the pool players are school aged because the poet says, “We left school.” (l.1-2) This line shows how they have no interest in school or learning. Since they choose to ditch school, they are most likely uneducated or immature therefore, their behavior throughout the poem, is not too surprising.
The next line indicates that the pool players are very rebellious. In the lines, “We lurk late. We strike straight,” (l.2-4) we are made aware that

The lines “We sing sin. We thin gin,” (l.4-6) references the bad things they do. They aren’t actually singing. However, during this time period, blues and jazz were considered to be an inappropriate from of music. They could also be celebrating their bad habits that others may consider sinful. It also seems as though they drink, which would be illegal, considering they are still school age. The pool players may be alcoholics, and this can be scary considering how young they all are. This could also be their way of trying to remain “cool” or stay in the