Incident And Cross Countee Cullen

Identity in a Black and White Society: A Comparison of the Speakers in "Incident" and "Cross"

Countee Cullen and Langston Hughes both create speakers who experience prejudice in a predominantly white American society. Countee Cullen’s poem "Incident" tells the story of an African American man recalling an incident in his childhood involving racism in twentieth century Baltimore. Langston Hughes’ “Cross” narrates a biracial man’s contemplation of his parents’ unequal fates in a society that does not accept interracial couples. Consequently, the speaker of “Cross” wonders what will become of his fate, as he is neither black nor white. Both pieces manage to explore the underlying issues of prejudice in American society in just three quatrains. …show more content…
The speaker continues to express that “if [he] ever cursed [his] white old man” that he take[s] his curses back. This indicates act of repentance out of fear of punishment rather than respect. The distance between the speaker and his father remains evident as the speaker continues to refer to his father only as an “old man.” Oppositely, the speaker curses his mother but shows more of a forgiving side towards her. The speaker expresses anger toward his mother by stating that his “old mother’s black.” He continues to confess that if he ever cursed his mother “and wished she was in hell,” that he is “sorry for that evil wish...And now [wishses] her well.” This confession shows that the relationship between the speaker and his mother is close and that he only wishes her well, as opposed to his absence of well being wishes toward his father. Finally, in the last stanza of the piece, the speaker again expresses anger towards his parents, especially towards his father as he describes that “[his] old man died in a fine big house” and that his “ma died in a shack.” The aforementioned lines in the poem almost gives off the feeling that the speaker blames his father for the fate of his mother. Though he hints again at his initial anger, the speaker concludes with a tone of confusion, as he does not know …show more content…
The experience of the speaker in “Incident” represents the experience in which young black children are first exposed to the negativity of racism, while the speaker “Cross” represents the internal struggle of those who have no distinct way, such as outright racism, of determining where they fit into society. Ultimately, these pieces provide evidence on the effects of a person’s environment on their self