I
chose Langston Hughes because I really enjoyed reading his works and as I was
reading, I really began to admire his dedication and reasoning behind his
writing. His writings were first hand experiences of the hardship and
oppression for which African Americans faced for many years. He did not express hate or violence but he
wrote in an innocent way, which people can look at and really feel sorry for
him and his people.
“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” was Hughes’ first poem
written in 1919. I personally liked
this poem the best. To me, it symbolized togetherness and a sense of everyone
being connected in some way. All rivers eventually come together into one body
of water. Nobody can tell where the water came from when it is in an ocean, we
just consider it water. Hughes wanted to use this metaphor when dealing with
people. To him it did not matter where you came from, your skin color, or the
language you spoke. Everyone was equal because we all came from the same roots.
This was the major theme in the poem. If everyone had this view on life then we
would not have any racism in the world, but that would be impossible.
I
felt “I, Too” was also a great work by Hughes. The tone of the poem inspired me
a great deal. The narrator talks in such an optimistic voice, as if he can see
what the future holds for him and the Negroes.
This deals greatly with segregation and the struggle for equal rights.
Even under oppression, he had hopes and dreams and nothing was going to take
that away from him. No matter how bad the white man treated him, He was still
proud to be considered an American. I like the quote from the end of the poem,
“They’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed”. Even though the poem dealt
with such a negative subject, the narrator still had the positive outlook. I
felt the narrator was right, when we look at on these times, many whites are
ashamed of what happened in the past. I know that personally, I am.
My
third and last poem that I chose was “Theme for English B”, which was also
written by Hughes. This poem focused on the biased prejudice of the white man.
A piece of paper is blank and what it is written on anonymously, you can not
tell who wrote it but when a name is attached to it, the reader knows
otherwise. He listed many things he likes, which all of them are normal and
anybody can like them but since he is black he is looked down upon. We all have
the same likes and dislikes but since there is a color difference the likes and
dislikes are irrelevant. This poem really digs deep into your own self and it
makes you do a lot of thinking. What is the matter with our society, if the
color of the skin makes the whole difference of judging a person? I personally
do not understand it, but racism will continue long after I will be around.
I
felt the links that I chose were helpful in fully understanding the true
meanings of the poems. I have mixed links with web sites from the Internet,
definitions and explanations of the text based on my opinions. This should give
the reader a well-balanced understanding of the time period and the oppression
to which Hughes was writing in. By fully understanding the poems, they will be
open to more interpretations.
As
I was doing research for the project, I read a lot of Hughes poetry but I felt
these three poems made the most influence on myself and hopefully it does the
same for you. They really made me think about myself and helped me rationalize
the world around us. I have listed more web sites so you can gain more
knowledge on Hughes poetry. By reading more of his poetry you can rationalize
his beliefs and those of the Negroes.