Sitting down to eat lunch, using a public restroom, going to school, these are all everyday activities we don’t think twice about doing. However, Langston Hughes lived in a time period of prejudices, discrimination, and inequality; a time where these common activities were much more dangerous. Hughes focused his writing on delivering a message to the public on behalf of the working class. He became a voice for the African American community. He said what they could not through poetry. His style was direct and many times pessimistic with a touch of optimism toward the end of the poem. Although his style of writing is prominent, the themes found within his poetry are really what helps convey the true meaning of his poems. The American Dream,
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Racism and what it entails is another common theme present in many of Hughes’s poems. Hughes was realistic about the discriminatory environment that was the early and mid 1900s. Many other creative writers attacked him for his works because they thought it gave people a negative connotation about African Americans. This led much of media to produce news articles talking down upon Langston Hughes’s works. Many of Hughes’s works include a theme of racism, but a few include, “Mother to Son”, and “I Too”. In “Mother to Son” the mother speaks to her son comparing life to a staircase. She says that it is not a crystal staircase; there are tacks, splinters, and boards torn up, “But all the time I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's, And turnin' corners.” This poem establishes the truth that there will be prejudices and discrimination because of the color of skin, but that does not mean you should stop trying. Hughes’s poem, “I Too” is about an African American figure who faces the common struggle of discrimination, yet feels as though he too is an American and should have the same rights as the majority. By the end of the poem there is optimism for a better tomorrow, “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed— I, too, am
Racism and what it entails is another common theme present in many of Hughes’s poems. Hughes was realistic about the discriminatory environment that was the early and mid 1900s. Many other creative writers attacked him for his works because they thought it gave people a negative connotation about African Americans. This led much of media to produce news articles talking down upon Langston Hughes’s works. Many of Hughes’s works include a theme of racism, but a few include, “Mother to Son”, and “I Too”. In “Mother to Son” the mother speaks to her son comparing life to a staircase. She says that it is not a crystal staircase; there are tacks, splinters, and boards torn up, “But all the time I'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's, And turnin' corners.” This poem establishes the truth that there will be prejudices and discrimination because of the color of skin, but that does not mean you should stop trying. Hughes’s poem, “I Too” is about an African American figure who faces the common struggle of discrimination, yet feels as though he too is an American and should have the same rights as the majority. By the end of the poem there is optimism for a better tomorrow, “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed— I, too, am