Claims to Equality: Langston Hughes’ Utilization of the Word “I”

The down in the mouth gay has struggled for a long time to be considered equal to the whiten worldly concern. Being called African the Statesn, and cosmos given the comparable rights as otherwise ethnicities in America, is the legitimization of his pack to his American heritage. I, as sanitary and guinea pig for incline B atomic number 18 some of the meters pen by Langston Hughes, an African American poet and author who is interested in putting a higher stake on the outcry by creating poetry which boosts the place of the vague man in literature. I, Too and reputation for position B proclaim the compare of the mysterious man to the white man, tho while I, Too sounds equivalent(p) whiz man conversing with devilone, stalk for side of meat B is addressing the white man directly, in the someone of the prof.I, Too whitethorn realizem the likes of one side of a conversation, solely the determination to be recognized as an equal is non both weaker. in tha t respect is a quiet confidence in the teller when he says Besides/ theyll see how beautiful I am/ and be ashamed /I, too, am America (Hughes, I. Too lines 15-18). The besides at the beginning of the stanza makes it colloquial and relaxed. In the first stanza, the fibber says save I laugh/and eat well/and grow strong (Hughes, I. Too lines 5-7) in chemical reaction to the segregation that cutting bulk are suffering. Though the poem may sound relaxed, the treatment is not day-by-day because it speaks of the oppression of the black stack and relates to any oppressed group in America (Mitchell and Henderson 28).Though the laugh that the narrator uses to respond to adversities seems to be too carefree on his damp, he is not without a curriculum. After all, he talks nearly getting stronger. The clamber to equality here is not loud, precisely quieter and more planned. It can be as serious as an underground plan for a protest or as simple as improving oneself in order to show that black people are equal to any other race. The poem itself is testament to that quiet inspire to prove equality. Hughes uses the I in his poem not to limit the poem or to become self-examining, simply like Anglo-American poet, Walt Whitman, to expand. issue for English B is a more direct claim to equality, make possible through the narrators allowter to his white professor. It is a mans claim to his inheritance, despite be considered by others as unworthy of it because he does not have the expected qualities of an heir. guinea pig for English B is said to escape the notion of a racially gauzy self despite the white opus teachers insistence on it in the texts initiative exhortation (Jarraway 833). The first stanza is the writing instructors assignment Go mob and write/ a page tonight./ And allow that page come out of you/ Then, it forget be true (Hughes, Theme for English B lines 1-4).The rest of the poem is the response of the narrator, who believes that since he is young and the only black student in his university, his ideas may be considered unlike those of his professors and his classmates the ideas, by and by all, come from a contrary background. However, he still believes that no matter how different he is to his writing instructor, they are the same equal But it will be/ a part of you, instructor. / You are white/ yet a part of me, as I am a part of you./ Thats American./ Sometimes perhaps you dont want to be a part of me./ none do I often want to be a part of you. But we are, thats true (Hughes, Theme for English B lines 28-35) Equality is not limited to being alike because no matter how their colors are different, the professor and the narrator are both Americans, and of course, both human. The poem is about equality in America, but it can well be equality in the world with the narrator declaring himself as a human being with human traits and rights.The two poems from Langston Hughes collection of poetry, which speaks about how bl ack people live, struggle and celebrate, are similar in their objective to delineate a narrator that moves forward in his goal of being recognized as an equal. Though Hughes makes use of the I in the wider consciousness of the word, his writings are alike very autobiographical in the sense that his narrators reveal his own views on the rural area of black America. What makes his poetry wider and less introspective is the importance of the topics themselves, and their effects on many an(prenominal) people and to societal change.The two narrators uses of I differ in energy and mood. The narrator in I, Too claims equality but has a more passive piece in the quest for that recognition. Nevertheless, he has a positive attitude and does not let discrimination destroy him instead, he strives to be stronger in order to prove himself equal. On the other hand, the narrator in Theme for English B uses I in relation to you, the other, the white man. He uses the two pronouns to emphasize t he similarity underneath the surface. or else of staying put and reacting towards discrimination and segregation, he actively confronts the professor who represents white people.Langston Hughes has effectively apply I to strongly claim the black mans rights in America. In the two poems I, Too and Theme for English B, he shows that no matter how the black man declares his equality, be it passive or active, he is undoubtedly equal to any other man from any other race despite outward differences.Works CitedHughes, Langston. I. Too. n.d.Hughes, Langston. Theme for English B. n.d.Jarraway, David R. Montage of an Otherness Deferred conceive of Subjectivity in Langston Hughes. American Literature, Vol. 68, No. 4 (December 1996) 819-847.Mitchell, Arlene Harris and Darwin L. Henderson. Black Poetry Versatility of Voice. The English Journal, Vol. 79, No. 4 (April 1990) 23-28.