The theme of Countee Cullen’s “incident” Countee Cullen’s “Incident” creates a theme of a trauma, by a little boy coming in contact with racism. The speaker of the poem creates the theme by his ride into Baltimore, the encounter with another kid and his experience in Baltimore. First, Cullen shows the theme of a boy going to Baltimore. The theme he is showing is the boy is excited to be going to a city. He shows it as “once riding in old Baltimore, heart filled and head filled with glee”. (Line 1-2). The lines show the theme of emotions being shown how he feels going into the city of Baltimore (American Poetry). Second, he encounters a little white boy. The boy is described as a “whit bigger” showing he is not too much bigger than
