FREE ESSAY ON LANGSTON HUGHES: AN OUTSIDER'S VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

LANGSTON HUGHES: AN OUTSIDER'S VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

Langston Hughes: An Outsider's Voice of the People
Langston Hughes is often considered a voice of the African-American people and a prime
example of the magnificence of the Harlem Renaissance. His writing does embody these
titles, but the concept of Langston Hughes that portrays a black man's rise to poetic
greatness from the depths of poverty and repression are largely exaggerated. America
frequently confuses the ideas of segregation, suppression, and struggle associated with
African-American history and imposes these ideas onto the stories of many black
historical figures and artists. While many of them have struggled with these confines set
upon them by American society, Langston Hughes did not fulfill this historical stereotype
due to his personal wealth, education, and recognized success (Early 1). 
James Mercer Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri on February 1, 1902. His
father, James Nathaniel Hughes was a lawyer and businessman and his mother, Carrie Mercer
(Langston) Hughes was a schoolteacher. The dual income from his parents appropriated him
with funds that he used for his education and to begin his poetry career (Langston Hughes
1). This was an advantage unknown to many black Americans at this time. Hughes spoke of
the poverty of the black people and struggles that many went through in their lives just
to make enough money for their families to survive. Langston Hughes never greatly
encountered this first-hand. In Let America Be America Again, he states I am the poor
white, fooled and pushed apart. Hughes was never as poor as the downtrodden he spoke of
and was never fooled and pushed apart (Presley 1). He also was fortunate enough to obtain
a benefactor, which still to this day is considered a rare blessing to aspiring writers.
In 1929, he met Charlotte van der Veer Quick Mason, a wealthy widow and for the next four
years, was financially supported by this generous woman (Langston Hughes 2). Again in Let
America Be America Again, Hughes pleads I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest
worker bartered through the years. In comparison to the many African-Americans at the
time who were, indeed, struggling with financial burdens, Langston Hughes knew nothing of
this uncertainty he spoke of due to his benefactor. The images of poverty that Hughes
evokes through his poetry, contribute to the American notion of impoverished black
Americans since the days of slavery, however, Hughes' life was very different from the
notion he described (Early 3). 
At this time in history, many Americans were illiterate, especially minorities. Langston
Hughes was fortunate to be able to read, and blessed with his talent to write. Due to
financial stability, Hughes was able to attend Columbia University and Lincoln
University. This level of study was seldom attained by African-Americans. Even though
Langston Hughes was highly educated for an African-American of the time, he still used
black slang and southern dialects in many of his poems. In Po' Boy Blues, he not only
relays the thoughts of black oppression through the factual words of the poem, but
through the dialect used. 
Weary, weary,
Weary early in de morn.
Weary, weary,
Early, early in de morn.
I's so weary
I wish I'd never been born.
Reading this evokes images of slavery and the meager existence of poor blacks of the
South, but Hughes was not one of these. His own poetry tells the story of the repressed
black Americans, yet this also furthers the preconceived images in the readers mind that
the writer is, himself, a part of this life style, which he is not. 
Many are born with the talent to write, but few obtain recognition, especially within
their own lifetimes. Langston Hughes' success was even more rare as he was black. He was
first recognized as a talented writer as early as 1915, in grammar school as was
published in his high school newspaper. In 1925, he was discovered by Carl Van Vechten,
and The Weary Blues was published three weeks later. 
I got the Weary Blues
And I can't be satisfied
Got the Weary Blues
And can't be satisfied-
I ain't happy no mo'
And I wish that I had died.
-The Weary Blues
Even though Hughes continued to express the plight of the underprivileged
African-Americans, he became more famous and recognized as a poet. The Harlem Renaissance
flourished at this time and with it, Hughes' poetry. The Weary Blues' rhythmic and
lyric-like style was greatly influenced by jazz music of the time. This connection
between music and poetry paved the way for future styles of modern poetry, specifically
the beat poets of the 1950's such as Allen Ginsberg (Tracy 2).
Langston Hughes' poetry became so successful as readers sought sympathy in their daily
lives. Hughes drowsy syncopated tunes evoked feelings of loneliness, sadness and other
sentiments of the downtrodden. His simple language and slow rhythm share with the reader
more of the Weary Blues feeling than the actual words in some poems (Cooke 1). In The
Negro Speaks of Rivers, Hughes states that I've known rivers ancient as the world and
older that the flow of human blood in human veins. This poem focuses on the history of
black slavery throughout the world. In his critique of the poem Onwuchekwa Jemie states
that Even though this poem is a majestic reminder of the strength and fullness of
history, its author did not know of the oppression of which he spoke of. Langston Hughes
became recognized throughout the country as the poet laureate of the black people, thus
distancing himself further from the despotism of their lives. 
Although Langston Hughes was a talented poet of his time and brought a new voice and
perspective to the world of poetry, he did not bring the vision of experience with it.
Many regard him as the voice of the African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance, yet
he is the voice of an outsider looking in on the world of black oppression. 
Bibliography
Works Cited
Cooke, Michael G. Critique on The Weary Blues. 1984.
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hughes/weary/htm. 5/21/00.
Early, Gerald. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. 
The Boston Book Review. May 1995. 
http://www.bookwire.com/bbr/poetry/collected-langston-hughes.html 5/21/00.
Jemie, Onwuchekwa. Langston Hughes: An Introduction to 
Poetry. 1976. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hughes/rivers/htm. 
5/21/00.
Langston Hughes. Literature Online. 
http://www.longman.awl.com/kennedy/hughes/biography/html. 5/21/00.
Presley, James. On Let America Be America Again. 1963. 
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hughes/rivers/htm. 5/21/00.
Tracy, Steve, C. On The Weary Blues. 1988. 
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/hughes/rivers/htm 5/21/00.