Langston Hughes Landlord

James Mercer Langston Hughes, the great poet, novelist, social activist, columnist, and playwright himself was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. During his life he wrote numerous plays and many different works of poetry. He published his first book of poetry in 1926 at the age of 24. The book was called The Weary Blues, it was a standout because Hughes established a theme to recognize black heritage and he also used jazz rhythm and dialect to focus on urban black lives. Hughes is best known as being a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance, also named the “New Negro Movement”, was taken place in the 1920s and 1930s based in Harlem. It celebrated the African American culture, traditions and voices.
Langston Hughes wrote many great poems, but the one I will be focusing on today is called Ballad of the Landlord. (Read the Poem). After reading the poem one begins to wonder what Hughes is trying to say in his poem or what point he’s …show more content…
In the lines “My roof has sprung a leak” and “These steps is broken down”, these are things the tenant is asking to be changed and he doesn’t mind paying his rent once these demands get fixed. It becomes sort of like a protest in which the tenant is like you fix the house and I will pay, but until then he’s not paying anything. This also relates to the time era in which they had a lot protesting going on, some were peaceful and some were violent. In this case it went from peacefully to a little aggressive when the tenant stated he would put his hands on the landlord, this created a theme of time period where people demanded for change and if they didn’t they would take matters in their own hands. Once this theme was created by Hughes it gave a realistic view point about what will really happen if you try to stand up for yourself they will call you out as if you were disturbing the peace and immediately get you