Analysis of Leroi Jones' A Poem Some People Will Have To Understand
There is an implied threat in "A Poem Some People Will Have To Understand" by Leroi Jones. Ostensibly, there is no intimidation. The poem is confessional, even reflective; the theme is one of mutability and change. However, there is something frightening and ominous in Jones1 vision, which he creates through attention to word choice and structure.
Jones' warning is immediately evident in the title through his manipulation of words. The phrase "have to" has two meanings. One the one hand, "have to" is an innocuous statement of the alliance Jones expects to find among his Afro-American readers--these people will "have to" understand the poem because it speaks to their individual, personal lives. On the other hand, there is a more sinister connotation in "have to"--the idea that others will "have to" understand this poem because they will be forced to do so.
Beyond the title, Jones creates a forbidding speaker--a man at a crossroads, or rather, at a moment of decision. However, the structure of the first stanza is direct and conservative, almost prosaic. Jones gives us nothing that is revolutionary here. Instead, he lays the groundwork for this piece with the gloomy initial images of "(d)ull unwashed windows of eyes"(1). These eyes are no doubt those of the speaker, and they have been dulled and dirtied by his existence as a black man in the post-segregation 1960s. The "industry" he mentions in lines 2 and 3 is both the industry of the American machine that exploits the underprivileged, and the industry he "practice(s)." The speaker is a self-professed "slick / colored boy, 12 miles from his / home" who practices "no industry" (35). By "...
... middle of paper ...
...The promised "phenomenon" has not come, and it is now up to him to bring it about through violence. Jones does not allow the speaker to lose any of his charm as he politely invites his "machinegunners"--the tools of his new industry--to "please step forward" (26). He is a hustler to the end, a smooth-talker who is now at home in his new ego and his new profession.
Jones employs the dynamics of change to his speaker throughout the poem. From an aimless vagrant to a passionate revolutionary, Jones plots his speaker's course using specific words and structural techniques. Through these elements, we witness the evolution of a new black man--one who is not content with the passivity of his earlier spiritual leaders. We are left with a threat--a steel fist in a velvet glove of poetry--and it becomes a poem that we "have to" understand, whether we want to or not.
about to urinate all over the bus, but they decided it would just be another
2) This idea is an autobiographical exploration, because in order to have a positive approach to life’s challenges, you must realize who you are as a person. One of the most challenging aspects in life is this concept of self. Who am I, am I what I do, where I spend my time? When I was younger, I was looking for myself in all the wrong places. I did many experimental things in my journey of
Though this poem is only a small snapshot of what I personally thought Douglass was going through, I could never adequately understand the frustration he must have had. My hope in writing this poem was not to provide a psychoanalysis or theoretical idea structure to any audience, but rather to show that even today, a modern audience member like me, can appreciate the struggle of a fellow human and speak against injustices, specifically in Douglass’s time.
The poem also focuses on what life was like in the sixties. It tells of black freedom marches in the South how they effected one family. It told of how our peace officers reacted to marches with clubs, hoses, guns, and jail. They were fierce and wild and a black child would be no match for them. The mother refused to let her child march in the wild streets of Birmingham and sent her to the safest place that no harm would become of her daughter.
These constant feelings of discontent, and annoyance were seen frequently by African Americans who suffered from injustice acts from the white majority during these times. Many of the poems written during this time showed some sort of historical reference of maltreatment, or inequality. For years, African Americans were not allowed to have a voice, and if they did they wen’t unheard. However, when poems got published, the deep emotion, and rage that African Americans lived through for many years was released to the public, and shocked a majority of people when they quickly became influential to society.
This poem is written from the perspective of an African-American from a foreign country, who has come to America for the promise of equality, only to find out that at this time equality for blacks does not exist. It is written for fellow black men, in an effort to make them understand that the American dream is not something to abandon hope in, but something to fight for. The struggle of putting up with the racist mistreatment is evident even in the first four lines:
The history of African-American oppression began in the early 1600s as slaves arrived on America’s shores. For hundreds of years, African-Americans struggled against crippling segregation, terrorism, and racial enmity to no avail. As a result of extensive physical and psychological beatings, African-Americans became fearful and very reserved in expressing their emotions. Their suffering, however, fuelled a sense of courage in some, such as African-American poets, who found the strength to address uncertainties that others had against their racial identity. These brave men included George Horton, who wrote “Liberty and Slavery”, and Paul Dunbar, author of “We Wear a Mask”. Through their powerful race-protest poetry, Horton and Dunbar portray that African-Americans feel incessantly trapped, both physically and emotionally, resulting in a deep-rooted yearning for freedom.
Throughout Douglass’ autobiography, readers grapple with the rise and creation of slavery as a racial formation but also witness the distinct features that detail its crumbling for the near future. It is a process that offers a linkage between structure and racial representation. Douglass touches base that “it was not color, but crime, not God, but man, that afforded the true explanation of the existence of slavery” (69). He already knows that the slave masters are the individuals who developed this categorization of race and embedded into the societal perception of today. Omi and Winant attempt to give an outline in their piece on the foundations of racial meaning. In other words, it was man who decided to develop distinct characteristics to separate individuals into inferior and superior. Douglass states that “what man can make, men can unmake” (69). In other words, Douglass does not see himself as any different than his peers and instead focuses on the theorizing of resistance in literature. The power of knowledge
Langston Hughes, a renowned poet from the early 1900s, has written numerous poems that have various themes and meanings. Although a lot of his poetry has to do with the struggles of African Americans during the time of slavery or during the early 1900s, Langston Hughes’ themes differ from poem to poem. One theme that appears in multiple poems of his is the theme of race, Langston Hughes uses the theme of race in his poems as a way to challenge the racial barriers that are placed on society. The theme of race is discussed in a plethora of his poems and it is important to examine a few of these poems which include, “I too, sing America”, “Theme for English b”, and “Let America be America Again”, to point out that Hughes tries to implement the sense of hope into African Americans of the time, also he uses race as a way to provide a focus on the oppression of slaves.
...is presented in a way that “blacks or whites can draw admonition from the subject” (1) . Another perspective from Revell is that the poem presents itself in terms of passionate personal regret. Revell believes that Dunbar felt guilty because he allowed himself to be bound to the “ plantation lifestyle” (1). The plantation life style internal anguish and agony the blacks went through as slaves. Some blacks have moved on from it, but some continue to use slavery as an excuse to not progress in life. It should be noted that Revell draws the most attention to the middle of the poem. The poem itself is masked because it never specifically says who its linked too, even though most would infer that it is linked to the black race. Revell concludes that Dunbar left aside the preconceived image of what it meant to be black in America, and spoke “only from his heart” (1) .
This poem represents the resiliency of the African American spirit, Although African Americans were enslaved, overworked and victimize the speaker is still proud to be a “Negro.” The speaker wanted to be the voice that represented all the unfair and injustice experience African American endured. Most importantly he wanted to end the poem they way he started the poem… Proud to be a “Negro.”
Through the use of his words, Douglas is not only able to make the audience hear his argument but visualize it as well. Douglas’ uses a lot of imagery, metaphors and symbols to help better understand his speech. Through the use of imagery, Douglass shows the struggle for freedom with the founding fathers and the condition of the slave in America at the time he’s the speech. He paints a picture for his audience about how the founding fathers wanted to set themselves free from a tyrant king and how they accomplished their goal. He also uses many metaphors through out his speech. One being the most effective one, “For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake” (69). By saying this Douglas is trying to say that only talking is not going to do anything but something stronger to let them know that it’s going to take much more than that to end slavery once and for all. This piece compares to Rogin’s writing style but Rogin uses imagery and metaphors as well. In the beginning of the text he quotes William Carlos Williams who says, “History begins for us with murder and enslavement, not with discovery” (26) which already allows the readers to picture in their mind the kind of brutality he is speaking of. The imagery that comes to mind is the cruelty towards the Native Americans on their
Escaping from slavery in 1838 had to be a treacherous experience; escaping slavery at any time would be! Most slaves couldn’t read or write, but one slave, Fredrick Douglass, broke that barrier and many more. In this particular writing he uses a wide-open state of mind to clearly get his thoughts across. He does this by using a wide variety of diction along with sentence fluency. An example can be seen in every sentence of every paragraph. “I saw in every white man an enemy, and in almost every colored man cause for distrust. It was a most painful situation; and, to understand it, one must needs experience it, or imagine himself in similar circumstances.” His narrative point of view about slavery, or rather first person experience on slavery, is expressed throughout as he explains slavery as being both life and death. How someone can write with such strong emotion, is beyond me, but Douglass does more than that. He captures and captivates the reader into thinking about and imagining his experiences.
One of the most memorable bus experiences in my life happened when I was in fifth grade. The final bell at school had rung, so I sprinted out to the bus with a few of my friends to save seats since our bus was always crowded. After we flung our backpacks into the four back seats, we ran back inside the school to buy some Mountain Dew from the pop machine in the cafeteria. After jamming our quarters into the machine and snatching the cans out of the bin, we sprinted back outside to make sure we did not miss the bus. It was still there, in all its yellow glory, so we hurried through the doors and onto the bus.
cute head, and sniffed my pockets. I was surprised. Why didn't it bite? Then the