Langston Hughes On African American Struggles

581 Words3 Pages
The Reality of the African American Struggle through the Eyes of Langston Hughes Today, many people can describe the struggle the African-Americans faced during the 1920s; however, Langston Hughes’s poems portray the true story of his culture. Hughes shows an accurate depiction of the black people; he was a Negro facing the struggles and suffering of the mistreated and misjudged African-Americans and inferior races of the white society. His poems, “I, Too,” “The Weary Blues,” and “Mother to Son,” accurately portray his themes of race, class, and culture. Throughout history, blacks in America always seemed to get the short end of the stick; however, as Hughes says “[they,] too, [are] America” (“I, Too” 17). They have been subjected to discrimination, violence, and inferiority all because we live in a white dominated society;…show more content…
(“I, Too” 7-17) From Langston Hughes point of view, he paints a truthful picture of the life of an average African American living during the Harlem Renaissance. The 1920s were one of the most imaginative periods for African Americans; they showed their feelings through writing, art, and music. Hughes was also known for composing blues, which is all about expressing your pains. They can be physical, financial, or emotional, but the more one feels the better the song. Hughes does not only sing as of he’s in pain; he tries to make their instrument and body his instrument sound the same too: Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor. He played a few chords then sang some more/ The singer stopped playing and went to bed. While the Weary Blues echoed through his head. He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead. (“The Weary Blues, 24-35). In this poem, Hughes communicates his suffering to the audience by using vivid language like shouting “O Blues!”(11).This poem helps amplify Hughes emotion toward the oppression of the black
Open Document