Langston Hughes: A Harlem Man

Great Essays
Langston Hughes: A Harlem Man
A quote by Langston Hughes says – “An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose. (Hughes (1926))” As one of the most persistent figures, poets, during the Harlem Renaissance Langston Hughes’ work reached a wide range of viewers. He wanted to “express contemporary Harlem by borrowing from the ‘current of Afro-American popular music . . . jazz, ragtime, swing, blues, boogie-woogie, and be-bop.’ (Kelly 170)” In poems such as – Bad Luck Card, Could Be, Down and Out, Late Last Night, Morning After, Sylvester’s Dying Bed, and Reverie or the Harlem River – he expresses just that. Naming blues as one of the genres of music that influenced his writing
…show more content…
A few years after the Harlem Renaissance ended the Great Depression took over. The economy crashed and the wave of migration, from the previous decade, continued to grow. Many people either went up north or out west. The west was a symbol of hope, with the railroad system now in place many people were in hope of finding new jobs. Route 66 to California was one of the most popular routes taken. While most families traveled in hopes of achieving the American Dream they were not forewarned about the over advertisement of jobs and were often put into situations worse than the ones they had left behind. With the crash of the stock market in 1929, the 1930s was a time of great strife and hardships for those who were not in the upper one percent.
LANGSTON HUGHES’ WORK AND REALISM
Hughes “cast off the influences of white poets and wrote with the rhythmic meter of blues and jazz (“The Harlem Renaissance”).” Taking on a rhythm of jazz and blues was a sure way to get his message across in his works. Take Miss Blues’es Child for instance:
If the blues would let me,
Lord knows I would
…show more content…
The realism presented in Hughes’ work and word choice is eye-opening, provocative even. Although poetry was continuously taking steps in a new direction, some people aren’t up for the challenge and choose to play it safe with their works. Not everyone was willing to touch on topics such as – emotional subjects, political issues, social issue, and societal confines. The 1920s was a time of prosperity, and with this new age came a new attitude and outlook on everyday life. Having not written his poetry at times of happiness, but times of hardships Hughes brings realism to the forefront in a lot of his

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Even though critics failed to acknowledge its oracular aspects, the poem has a solemn tone and knowledge is revealed and reflected throughout the work. Meanwhile, critics ignored the enigmatic closure of “The Weary Blues.” The poem ends…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Richards Bizot’s book closely analyzes the content of the original poem “Harlem”. The Author carefully examines Langston Hughes life in the 1920’s. A period in America where there were many frustrated dreams of “African Americans” (Bizot p3). He explains that the poem is a natural reaction of the many changes colored Americans felt shortly after World War II.…

    • 247 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In past times African American people were discriminated against and segregated, making a lot of people stand up for their rights in different ways. The speech written by Martin Luther King, “I have a dream” and the poem written by Langston Hughes, “Harlem”, both of them talk about the times of the brutality over African American people. The two works are similar because they both talk about African Americans not having the right of freely expressing their dissatisfaction with oppression. However, the two works are different in that one has a message with hope and the other one is without any optimism.…

    • 861 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Using his poetic artistry, he encompassed African music such as blues and jazz in his poems. Moreover, because of his unique way of portraying the African lifestyle he was criticized by many black intellectuals and the white press. In some of his poems he promoted the American dreams and dignity. Langston believed that one day African American will be free and able to pursue careers. Moreover, his poems expressed the feelings, fears, and dreams of African American`s urging them to find dignity in their daily struggles.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Langston Hughes lived in a time of racial segregation. Although he grew up in the North Hughes wanted the “American Dream” just like everyone else and even though he was free, he did not receive all of the same rights as the white men. So Hughes started writing poetry, spoke speeches, went into some of the Civil Rights movements. But he is the most famous for his poetry, in the poem Let America Be America Again, Hughes writes how he wants the American dream but America is not letting him have the American dream he believes it to be, “There’s never been equality for me, No freedom…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    those Weary Blues. ? Langston Hughes, ? The Weary Blues?…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    His writing career started and ended doing a time of great changes in the world. His writing reflected the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Depression, the McCarthy era, and the Civil Rights movement (Harper 25). Hughes uses his poem “Harlem” to ask his readers a question, “What happens to a dream deferred?” (Hughes, “Harlem” 1019), this poem is used to tell people never stop trying. Hughes applies his personal struggles along with the racial struggles that the blacks were facing in the United States and the economies struggles in the United States after the Great Depression.…

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although Hughes had trouble with both black and white critics, he was the first black American to earn his living solely from his writing and public lectures. Part of the reason he was able to do this was the phenomenal acceptance and love he received from average black people” (Poetry 1). This speaks volumes because even though Hughes was knocked down and struggled throughout his life and career he still managed to bring attention to key issues and African Americans were thankful for that. He started out in the Harlem Renaissance speaking out and gaining attention to the inequalities and then shifted to a Marxist approach and spoke out about capitalism, but in each areas he was…

    • 1261 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    T.S Eliot and Langston Hughes were working poets in the early 1900’s. They project their personal thoughts and fears into their work and construct poems that defy definition. Their technique is alike and both are key figures in the history of poetry, yet they focus on very contrasting themes and motifs. When attempting to understand the meaning of a poets work many aspects of the poets lives is analysed to gain a greater understanding. How significant is a poets race when understanding their work?…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There have been numerous poets that have graced the Earth with their talents, providing humans with some of the simplest words; however, those simple words could have a deeper meaning than that of the ocean. One of these poets, Langston B. Hughes, was born in Joplin, Missouri. As an African-American, he faced many hardships in furthering his learning. While studying in New York during the Harlem Renaissance, he was inspired to write poetry. He had many works of poetry, “Theme for English B” being a product of the Harlem Renaissance.…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Langston Hughes wrote “Harlem” as a prediction of the upcoming clash African Americans would embrace in order to gain civil liberties. The poem also serves as a rallying cry to those pondering what to do with their frustration of the way blacks were treated in America before the civil rights movement. Hughes delivers an emotional appeal to readers, urging them to wake up and see the future of a people bursting with ambition but held back by discrimination. In the poem "Harlem" Hughes uses figurative language to powerfully convey the consequences of oppression which deny black Americans the dream of equality. Hughes uses similes, anaphora, alliteration, and metaphor to help the reader visualize and empathize with the plight of African Americans…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Who am I? Where did I come from? What religion should I practice? Who is my God? These are questions that African Americans have yet to adequately answer.…

    • 1756 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Weary Blues Analysis

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Blues: A Door for African Americans’ Identity Langston Hughes’ “The Weary Blues” is a well-formed poem, which reflects the painful history yet rich culture of African American people during the Harlem Renaissance. The message of the poem can be seen in the last line when the speaker says, “he slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.” (35). This implies that the musician in the poem is so passionate towards his music that only his music labels him. What I mean is if the musician stops playing his music, he loses his identity.…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An article titled "I, Too, Sing America": Jazz and Blues Techniques and Effects in Some of Langston Hughes 's Selected Poems” by Lionel Davidas explains how Hughes poem uses jazz and blues as part of its essence. Jazz and blues have their roots in the African American community and Hughes use of the devices of jazz and blues is appropriate for a piece that talks about both the present situation for people of that community and their own roots (Davidas 267-268). Hughes uses many of the same methods that writers of jazz and blues use. The repetitions that Hughes uses are used in jazz music (Davidas 267). Anyone who has listened to jazz music, whether it was instrumental or vocal, had to notice that themes are often repeated in the music even if those themes are slightly altered with each repetition.…

    • 1699 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People can still see optimistic points in his writing because people believe that America can become “a strong land of love” (7). In the first poem, even though Hughes needs to eat in the kitchen when guest come, he writes “When company comes, But I laugh, / And eat well, / And grow Strong” (5-7). He is optimistic about the future and thinks that one day he will be able to sit around the table proudly when guests come. Instead of only thinking about his own group, Hughes speaks for many who are not included in American society. In the second poem, Hughes writes, “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, / I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scares.”…

    • 1042 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays