What Does A Country Boy Can Survive Mean

When people have a bad day or do something wrong, do they lack self-confidence? Although this may be true, people find ways to overcome it by having the right attitude. In both the song, “A Country Boy Can Survive” and the poem, “I, Too” it describes the confidence one needs in order to be successful in life and where it got them. Even though they came from different backgrounds, confidence carried them throughout their life to push themselves and never stop fighting for what they want even when they failed time after time.

In the song “A Country Boy Can Survive”, it uses a metaphor to describe the world we live in. It states, “The preacher man says it’s the end of time/ And the Mississippi River she’s goin’ dry/ The interest is up and the

Stock Markets down/ And you only get mugged if you go down town.” In other words the preacher says it’s the end of time because the problems we are facing and if it were to keep going at that rate the world would come to an end but then later on describes the things we have and what we can do to change and be successful.
To put it differently, the song was very confident after the first stanza to show the tone. For example the song states, “I Live back in the woods, you see/ A woman and the kids, and the dogs, and me/ I got a shotgun, a rifle, and a 4-wheel drive/ And a country boy can survive/ Country folks can survive.” In addition to the stanza stated, he is saying how he knows they can survive and live even if the world ended because of whom he is. This quote states the tone of confidence because the emotion he expressed throughout the song.
In addition to the previous paragraphs, the songs uses Alliteration, Imagery, and hyperbole to describe the tone.

In the song he states, “I can plow a field all day long/ I can catch catfish from dusk ‘till dawn/ We make our on whiskey and our own smoke, too/ Ain’t too many things these old boys can’t do.” In addition, He stated, “But he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife/ For 43 dollars my friend lost his life/ I’d love to spit some beech nut in that dude’s eyes/ And shoot him with my old 45.” The author is really trying to persuade everyone that they can do pretty much anything to live on their own because that is how they are raised and that if you mess with one of them; you got it coming your way.

In the song, Hank Williams Jr. tries to get the theme out by using personification. In the song he stated, “Because you can’t starve us out/ And you can’t make us run/ ‘Cause one-of-‘em old boys raised on shotgun/ And we say grace and we say ma’am/ And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn.” In the quote he said, “One-of-‘em old boys raised on shotgun”, making it seem like they learned how to do all of that as if the “shotgun” were a person to respect, giving the quote

personification.
Such a vision of confidence in both the poem and the song explaining the differences of both themes. In comparison to the song, Hughes wrote a poem that expressed the feelings of an African American man treated as if he was nothing but only led to him building his self-confidence off it. Unlike Hank Williams Jr.’s song “A County Boy Can Survive” Williams expresses the confidence he has with growing up being able to farm, hunt, and do things that most people could not, like living off the land.
In the poem “I, Too”, the author uses diction to show the confidence that he has in himself.

He states, “I am the darker brother. / They send me to eat in the kitchen/ When company comes, / But I laugh/ And eat well/ And grow strong.” The author is using a variety of words and academic language like the denotation and connotation of words to state that he is building his self-confidence to carry it throughout his life no matter what challenges he faces.

Even though it may seem like some negative could come out of this poem, the author uses imagery to show the self-confidence the man has. The author stated, “Tomorrow, / I’ll be at the table/ When company comes. / Nobody’ll dare/ Say to me, / ‘Eat in the kitchen,’ / Then.” The author is using imagery to place a picture in our heads to show what it’s like for him but it also shows that he isn’t afraid to stand up for himself because he knows the man he is.

In addition to the previous paragraph, the author uses hyperbole and metaphor to show his self-assurance. In this case the author states, “Besides, / They’ll see how beautiful I am/ And be ashamed/ I, too, am America.” The author is showing the feelings of the man by expressing his self-confidence to prove he too is just as good as everyone else is even if he is a different race, he is still a person who has rights as a citizen of

America.
Although both the song and the poem may have parts that can be seen as a negative tone, they both show the confidence they kept throughout the hard times. To put it differently the author shows the ways or things they did to overcome the negative showing that you can control your confidence and that having self-confidence can help you throughout any challenges you face in your life.