Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes, a Man of Many Virtues Langston Hughes is one of the most well-known black poet and short story writer in our country today. He is also famous for his willingness to write on subjects important and close to him, and never being afraid to stand up for what he believes in. Through his poetry and short story writing, Langston Hughes is able to incorporate not only unique ideas, but social issues important to him, personal family matters, African American lifestyle, and even forms of music. For these reasons, his writing is personal, and readers feel intrigued to read it as they are able to relate to him and the issues presented to them through his writing. Langston Hughes was a writer with a purpose, he wrote about many social issues, all of which were important to him and close at heart. He was one of the first African American men in United States history to achieve his own literary goals and make a successful career for himself, even despite the overwhelming obstacles black men faced in the 1920's and 30's (Barksdale 514-15). Hughes developed as a writer of progress and change over time, due to his protest of expression and exclusion of certain cultures through his writing (Bloom, "Thematic Analysis Song
Due to Hughes' "mixed blood" and the fact that he was a lighter skinned African American, with an arrogant family who chose to move in white crowds, attend white schools, and with a father who looked down upon the lower black class, Hughes was viewed by American blacks as an outsider (Bloom, "Thematic Analysis Negro Speaks" 38-39). My soul has grown deep like the rivers. Langston Hughes, in the summer of 1931, lectured a great deal in the southern parts of the United States, this heightened his sense of black consciousness. He wrote about many aspects of this in his writing, especially in the sense of pride for his societies' home land of Africa, and the issue of slavery. The poem's focus is on violence towards a young black woman, and also on the grief she experiences (52). Hughes had never felt the alienation as those blacks in the south did nearly every day of their lives, he had never known of their submission and this greatly affected him and his writing (Bloom, "Thematic Analysis Negro Speaks" 39). He played a few chords then he sang some more-- "I got the Weary Blues And I can't be satisfied. Hughes, however, was not entirely considered a part of the people for whom he wrote about and loved so much. His later poems dealing with equality, although still somewhat pessimistic, suggested that idea that at some point in the future, the lifestyle of African Americans would be bright (Werlock 222). In his poetry on music, Hughes experimented with new forms and techniques of writing styles, trying to almost re-create the rhythms and sounds of the music in his poetry (Rozakis 310). Non-blacks learned to accept and learn that African American artists were an important part of American art and culture and would continue to be as time advanced (40). He has earned a lot of respect not only for himself through his writing, but also for his culture of people as a whole. Hughes felt it was his own obligation to authenticate black music and folk tradition and strived to do so in his poetry writing (Bloom, "Thematic Analysis Weary Blues" 15).
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