Analysis Of Langston Hughes 'Poem The Negro Speaks Of River'

The Constitution preamble states, “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility… secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity”. The quote acknowledges the characteristics and the objective of the development of the United States of America. The Constitution articulates the importance of establishing “justice” and ensuring happiness to the “citizens” of the United States. Despite the objectives of the United States, racial discrimination was a prominent issue from the primitive America to today’s America. The white community dehumanized the African American community by treating them as if they were vile creatures. In the course of time, the treatment of African Americans has improved to the extent that they are recognized as equal human beings as well as becoming a more diverse nation. African American advocates constituted this change by protesting and demonstrating authority. They did not comprehend the authority they had until the New Negro Renaissance era; otherwise known as, …show more content…
For example, in his poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” he arranges the word to create the shape of a river. Langston Hughes decision to create “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” as a concrete poem emphasizes the symbolical meaning of the river. Hughes states, “I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of/ human blood in human veins” (Lauter, 2084). The quote compares the river to the “ancient world” providing insight into the belief of the river representing the history of the African Americans. Hughes commenced the poem with “I’ve known rivers”, thus giving the reader no knowledge of the speaker. He then introduces the speaker to the readers in line 5, “My soul has grown deep like the river”. The reader begins to understand that the speaker may be an elderly man who is narrating the history of the