Why You Reckon Analysis

In our world today, money is seen to be something that is needed to be successful or happy in life. People with less money tend to look up to those with more money in that way. In the short story, "Why, You Reckon?" Langston Hughes uses a colored man's point of view in a pre-Civil Rights Movement Era to show that even if someone has money, it doesn't mean they have a happy life. Money is the center of anything and everything today. It seems like nowadays, you need to buy your happiness, and without money, you aren't happy. The main conflict in "Why, You Reckon?" is two men kidnapping a rich person for his money. After a long conversation with the "white boy", the two men finally gave up on him. The one man took what they got off of the poor white boy, and the colored man stayed back with the fellow to make sure cops weren't around. The colored man expected the white boy to be scared and to possibly even get cops involved, but he was shocked by what came out of the rich fellows mouth. "Gee this was exciting, this was thrilling" …show more content…
219). The colored man doesn't know what its like to have money, so in return he doesn't know what its like to be in the white fellow's shoes. The white fellow does rebuttal by saying, "No, you wouldn't" and he shook his head (Hughes, pg. 219). The white fellow is not happy with money in his life, because he believes you shouldn't have to spend money to have a good time. The colored fellow end the story with an interesting quote, "What do you suppose is the matter with rich white folks? Why you reckon they ain't happy?" (Hughes, pg. 219). He believes that having money and being rich makes you happy, but in the white fellows life, he'd rather have no money in order to be happy. There's two different sides to this story. In reality, you make your own happiness, whether you have money or