So Langston Hughes’ entire essay was about this young African American poet who wanted to be a “white poet”. In Hughes mind this is crazy and why would anyone want to be something they are not? I loved Hughes essay for many reasons. First, because his language was easy to understand and so I could read through it numerous times without getting utterly confused and being unsure as to what he was saying. Second, because it gave me that feeling of adrenaline, like “yeah I agree with you” and “yes that’s right.” This may sound odd considering it was a piece of writing mostly directed towards African Americans. But in addressing the need to accept and embrace our cultural background and who we truly are, Hughes also reveals many issues of the white world of thinking.
“And so the word white comes to be unconsciously a symbol of all virtues.”
This bothered me. Because I don’t want to be encouraging these ideas that because one is white this makes them better or happier or successful. It comes back to this never ending racial issue and I think Hughes is addressing this in his essay. He wants African Americans to be able to have the freedom to express themselves, based on who they are NOT on what the white majority is telling them to be. This idea of the world consisting of so many different people and from these differences we can learn and grow is present here.
“She does not want a true picture of herself from anybody. She wants the artist to flatter her…”
Hughes is speaking about a white woman in this passage. And I completely agreed with his point, but I believe the above statement can be true for all people. We don’t want to know what we really look like or how we really act. Make us look beautiful, tell us we are great, so that we can feel good about ourselves and feel as if we are these wonderful individuals who are making a difference in this world. This bothers me. A lot. Because what we all need is a mirror so that we can look deep inside it and see who we truly are. And honestly, for a lot of people this would be scary and earth shattering because what would be revealed in that reflection wouldn’t be wonderful, great, or beautiful.
1 comment:
I think you raise some interesting points about Hughes' essay. For me, one of the things that makes Langston Hughes such a powerful writer is his ability to the speak truth about the way many of us, not just African-Americans, feel about society. I don't think it's wrong to relate to what Hughes has to say, because ultimately, I think it shows the power of his words. Hughes is able to transcend even his intended audience, and I think that's one of the reasons why his work has continued to resonate with so many people.
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