Langston Hughes Essay, Research Paper

"Hughes’ efforts to create a poetry that truly evoked the spirit of Black

America involved a resolution of conflicts centering around the problem of

identity" (Smith 358). No African American poet, writer, and novelist has

ever been appreciated by every ethnic society as much as Langston Hughes was.

Critics argue that Hughes reached that level of prominence, because all his

works reflected on his life’s experience, whether they have been good or bad. He

never wrote one single literary piece that did not contain an underlying message

within the specific work; in other words, all his works had a definite purpose

behind them. Providing that the reader has some insight about the life of this

great poet, he can readily arrive to the conclusion that Hughes’ life effected

his works to the fullest extent, even when only breezing through Langston

Hughes’ works. Langston Hughes, "one of the most original and versatile of

twentieth-century black writers" (Shirley 1), was born on February 1st,

1902, in Joplin, Missouri. When Hughes was still a baby, his father, James

Nathaniel Hughes, abandoned the family and left for Mexico. As soon as she

divorced her husband, his mother, Carrie Langston Hughes, a schoolteacher

struggling to acquire a permanent job position, had to place him under the

caring arm of his grandmother, Mary Sampson Patterson Leary. Hughes’ grandmother

"helped inspire in him a devotion to the cause of social justice" (Rampersad

55), for her first husband died fighting at Harpers Ferry under John Brown, and

her second husband became a fierce abolitionist. Being always a lonely child,

Hughes turned to reading and poetry early in his life. Developing a great

respect for writers like Paul Dunbar and Carl Sandburg, he soon began writing

his own poems. Shortly after submitting a few poems to the school’s magazine

editor, Hughes’ poems could be read by everyone at Central High School, a local

Cleveland school he was attending. After his graduation, Hughes attempted to

peacefully reunite with his father, who was now a wealthy lawyer in Mexico, in

order to ask for money so he could pursue a quality post-high school education.

After his unsuccessful attempt, Hughes returned to the United States, deciding

that his faith will lie only in his hands. On his way back, Hughes wrote one of

his most famous poems "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," readily admitting

that he wrote the best when he was sad and depressed" (Early 26). In 1921,

Hughes spent a year at Columbia University, however, just to find out that he

did not make the right choice, for colleges were still discriminating regularly.

Looking for jobs, he landed a position as a seaman on the SS Malone that brought

him closer to his own race emotionally, by traveling to Africa and Europe.

"Although he was almost constantly at sea, his poems got published

regularly in African-American magazines such as the Crisis." (Rampersad

118). By this time, Hughes already established himself as the young star of the

New Negro Renaissance. As time passed, a young, unskilled, position-seeking

Hughes became a bus boy at the prominent Wardman Park Hotel in Washington D.C..

After Vachel Lindsay recited three of his poems, which Hughes intentionally left

by Vachel’s plate, he received slight attention from different publishers. When

Hughes won his first poetry award in 1925 through a contest by a journal called

Negro Life, his award winning poem got him further recognition, that would

eventually lead to his first book, The Weary Blues. Soon enough, "through

his poetry, from a kind and generous woman who had shown interest in his work,

came a scholarship" (Smith 359). Four years later, in 1929, Hughes

graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania with a B.A.. Never even

thinking about his young age, other authors selected Hughes to become the leader

of the Harlem Renaissance, a literary circle of black writers focusing on the

social problems blacks had to endure. Along with writers like Countee Cullen,

Wallace Thurman and others, he struggled to prove that the great spirit or skill

of writing tremendous pieces of literature lies within the white and the black

mind and body. When jazz stepped into the picture, being the most popular music

of that time, Hughes effectively turned a bit more toward jazz, writing his

poems in a distinctive rhythm and beat. "I can not recall the name of one

single person, who at the age of twenty-seven, has enjoyed so picturesque and

rambling existence as Langston Hughes" (Smith 363). Hughes also started

writing short novels, plays and songs. His play The Mulatto, a tragic play about

racial controversies, made it to Broadway in 1935 and stayed there for about two

years after. Again, it can be clearly depicted that Hughes tried to

"explain and illuminate the Negro Condition of America" (Shirley 2).

Included his works were many pieces such as the novel Fine Clothes to the Jew

(1927), Not Without Laughter (1930), Shakespeare in Harlem (1942), and numerous

other nationally recognized pieces. During the 1930’s Hughes was lecturing all

over the South, desperately trying to persuade more young black Americans to

pursue their dreams. Hughes remained unmarried for the rest of his life. He

chose to live in Harlem throughout his life, so he could benefit from being

among his people by learning something new every day. After being hospitalized

in March, 1967, Hughes died on May 22nd, 1967. Authors all over the country

preached that Langston Hughes died, but that his work and his spirit will live

on forever, making Hughes an immortal poet. Langston Hughes, "the poet

laureate of Harlem" (Shirley 9), wrote many poems, plays, novels and other

literary works. If one reads a Langston Hughes poem, at first he does not know

why or for what purpose Hughes wrote the piece. The fact of the matter is that

every single creation that Hughes came up with had a significant meaning behind

it. Most of his poems speak about the constant struggle of black people in

America against the societal problems. It can be portrayed through his writings

that Hughes himself saw many problems of the society. His play The Mulatto,

making Broadway when Hughes was 35 years old, told about a young, smart boy

whose parents were of both races: white and black. Throughout this play the boy

struggles within both of the societies, with no one accepting him for who he

really is. Hughes intentionally wrote this masterpiece in order to present to

the audience, whoever the audience might be, the real-life situations and

problems of those times. One of Langston Hughes’ poems, "A Dream

Deferred," asks the reader what happens to a dream that is held back by

someone or something: however, he never explicitly explains that the dream is

not impossible. Through this poem Hughes tried to show the reader that although

dreams at certain times can not be fulfilled because of whichever reasons, they

are definitely not unreachable. In this case, the dream which is held back is

the dream of freedom, with the white society being the character which is

preventing the dream to happen. When analyzed, it becomes evident that this

comes from the fact that during his times, the white people often kept the black

people from succeeding financially, politically, and socially. "Awakening

the spirit of the reader, he intended to spark hope into many of his people’s

hearts" (Early 29). Being a poet of democracy, in one of his other poems,

"The Theme for English B," Hughes writes about how in reality there is

really one kind: the humans. Hughes, of course, saw that black, just like the

white people, had the potential in their lives to succeed, and the black, just

like white people have folks that are sometimes a disgrace to the community. By

concluding all of this, he knew that deep inside we are all the same, and that

is what really matters. Many times, "in his works Hughes talked about the

racial issues" (Rampersad 1), just like in the poem "I Too, Sing

America." Seeing that the black man was often treated as although he was

not human, Hughes described in this poem how the society treated the Negro at

times. At the end of the poem, he wrote how one day the white people will

realize that made a mistake, and from that day on they will recognize the blacks

as an important part of the society. During Langston Hughes’ time, the most

widely listened to music in the black and white community was jazz, and

ironically the music was usually composed by black people. Being a fan of jazz

himself, Hughes "borrowed extensively from blues and jazz in his work, and

in doing so, set the foundations for a new tradition of black literary modernism

influenced by the African American musical vernacular." (Borshuk Online),

and consequently, it must be said that it was well received by all critics. He

made the poems sound slow, and relaxing, but at the same time meaningful. This

was one of Hughes’ signature acts that he well used, and this can be vividly

portrayed in the poem "As I Grew Older," found in the collection of

poems The Weary Blues. As I Grew Older By Langston Hughes It was a long time

ago. I have almost forgotten my dream. But it was there then, In front of me,

Bright like a sun – My dream. And then the wall rose, Rose slowly, Slowly,

Between me and my dream. Rose slowly, slowly, Dimming. Hiding. The light of my

dream. Rose until it touched the sky – The wall. Shadow. I am black. I lie down

in the shadow. No longer the light of dream before me. Above me. Only the thick

wall. Only the shadow. My hands! My dark hands! Break through the wall! Find my

dream! Help me to shatter this darkness, To smash this night. To break this

shadow Into a thousand lights of sun, Into a thousand whirling dreams Of sun.

"As I Grew Older," a poem by Langston Hughes is very representative of

Hughes’ works, because it incorporates several themes and specific distinctions

throughout the entire poem. The first, and maybe the most distinguishable trait

of Hughes’ works, is the "ever-present feeling of the problems caused by

race issues" (Shirley 4). If one analyzes the poem to the fullest extent,

it becomes evident that the first stanza represents the birth of a goal or a

dream, just like a child has dreams of becoming a pilot or an astronaut. This,

of course, is a positive dream that was in the reach of the speaker, but as it

is illustrated later, it is clearly seen that it becomes farther and farther

away from him. In the second verse, it becomes conspicuous that there is an

outside force, or in Hughes’ words ‘a wall,’ that is actually holding back the

writer away from his dream. Since in the last line Hughes includes the words

"I am black," this ‘wall’ symbolizes the hardships of the black people

and all the struggles that they have to overcome before they succeed. Hughes

never mentions what this wall might be, but it can be assumed that it is the

‘white’ world surrounding him. Again, in relation to a black person’s life, this

stanza represents a growing child who realizes that he can not reach his goals,

because the society does not give the opportunity to the black people to become

pilots or space explorers. The third stanza epitomizes the way many black people

give up when something stands in the path leading to their dreams or goals. In

other words, with the line "I lie down in the shadow," the author

illustrates how certain individuals merely accept the fact that someone or

something (in this case it is the white community) stands between them and their

so distantly seeming dreams. This stanza symbolizes the early years of

adulthood, when many things seem impossible, and so many people lose their

hopes. In the last verse, the reader should notice the abrupt change and the

sudden willingness to succeed. The reader should also understand that now the

character of the poem is actually taking actions to overcome the obstacles of

life, and not just hopelessly accepting the fact that he is being treated

unfairly. It is clear that the character realizes that he himself can only

contribute to his success, no matter who or what prevents him from doing so.

This represents the maturity of the child who once thought that there was

nothing he could do about his hardships. Another specific distinction about

Hughes works is the "usage of blues within the poems" (Smith 361).

Usually, blues lyrics describe hardships and sufferings, and that is exactly

what this poem does. Also, the repetition of certain words throughout the poem

resembles the blues music, which is also based on the recurrence of specific key

words. What impact one’s experiences and hardships of life can have on their

works and further philosophies on the role of life, is nowhere better visible

than in the works and the life of the great American poet Langston Hughes.

Because Hughes chose to live in Harlem for the rest of his life, and because he

readily accepted the role as the leader of the Young Negro Movement, it is clear

that Hughes intended to write about the culture and the difficult times of the

black community. In other words, this makes the reader realize that in fact

Hughes wanted to present to the society these problems, and hopefully correct

them in some ways. The influence of his grandmother who was a passionate

abolitionist, along with influential black persona such as Booker T. Washington,

left an enormous effect on his literary works that he produced during his

lifetime; furthermore, in his works it is almost impossible not to see the

presence of the beliefs of a person who is fighting for a better life. The fact

that Hughes lived during a time in which the society’s hatred for blacks was

immense, and that he tried to ‘row upstream’ against the society’s flowing

beliefs, makes the whole argument that Hughes’ works were influenced by his way

of life much stronger. All these ideas and facts vividly draw a picture for the

reader showing that, in fact, Langston Hughes’ life experiences affected the

creation of his literary works.