“I, Too” by Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes had great influence on social change during the Harlem Renaissance, a time when jazz music, art, and writing were being promoted and encouraged through the black race. In his poem “I, Too”, racial equality is dominantly shown through figurative language and lyrical quality.

 

Langston Hughes made his passion for jazz music a key element in mostly every poem he has written. To him, it was symbolic of “the link to the negro soul”; therefore, he used it as an effective, literary tool in multiple poems that he wrote, one of them being “I, Too”. The first line says, “I, too, sing America.” Not only does this line involve singing, a vital part of most music that involves voice, but it also ties the white and black race together—promoting social change. The word “too” shows that the speaker is associating himself with the rest of America; he sings America the same as the white brother, so he is also a part of America and is an American the same as the white brother. Another lyrical quality “I, Too” possesses is repetition. He repeats “When company comes” twice in the poem with its own line, almost giving the poem a chorus.

 

A specific, obvious theme in “I, Too” is racial equality and social change. The second line says, “I am the darker brother”, making it sound as though the person he is comparing himself to is not a race other than his own—the human race. He says “darker brother”, not “dark brother”. He is saying he is no different from the other Americans, he is only darker. Dark and light are distinct, darker and lighter are adjectives that can be expressed with the same noun. A further example for the promotion of social change in this poem is when the narrator changes the tense of poem. In the second stanza of the poem, he says that he is told to eat in the kitchen when company comes; in the third stanza, he begins with the word “tomorrow” and says that he will be eating at the table when company comes, making it evident that a social change in racial equality for black Americans and white Americans will be pursued. 

“A Clean-Well Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway

I feel that Ernest Hemingway uses his story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” to highlight the importance of understanding or courteousness, show the distinctions between elders’ and youths’ way of thinking and preferences, and possibly even spatter a little bit on grief and the valuables of life. There are various elements in this story that have potential to be elaborated on.

 

It is obvious that the younger waiter did not understand that the old, deaf man did not like night bars or clubs or anything of that sort and preferred to delight in a clean, well-lighted café where he could be alone. And I assume by the details given about the old man wanting to commit suicide and no longer having a wife would have great influence on why the older man would want to be alone and sulk in his grief, later to drink the pain away. The younger waiter and older customer could have both been seen as inconsiderate due to the fact that the older man really did not care about the long hours that the gentlemen had to work as well the younger man not caring about what the older customer preferred. The young waiter chose not to understand the old man’s reasons, and to be even crueler he mocked him by using his disability-deafness-and told him he should have succeeded at killing himself.

 

Later in the story, it became evident to me that the old waiter and old customer had something very much in common. They were both grieving. For whatever reasons, I do not know. But the older waiter would question the younger as to why he would not just stay at the café for one hour later for the old man. Also, at the end of the story he states, “Insomnia. Many must have it.” My interpretation of that was maybe he feels just like the other old man did. He lost things in life that meant more to him than any amount of money; he was old and his life was almost gone. It must be a sullen thing to think about and reflect on when you have lost what should truly matter most.

 

“The Storm” – Kate Chopin

“The Storm” by Kate Chopin includes multiple elements in regards to setting and how it develops this story. The opening begins by describing the clouds rolling in and the unruffled thunder pounding while Calixta’s husband and son were away at the store. “Bobinôt, who was accustomed to converse on terms of perfect equality with his little son, called the child’s attention to certain sombre clouds that were rolling with sinister intention from the west, accompanied by a sullen, threatening roar.” Where there was certainly a storm rolling in through Louisiana, there was also a little storm rolling in through Bobinot’s home that he was unaware of-the storm that was rolling along in his bed.

In the story, it says that the rain began to fall as Alcee rode upon his horse up to Calixta’s gate. This could be symbolic of the storm in their home life beginning. It just so happens that the rain begins to fall when he rides up on his horse and Calixta let him inside of their home. Later in the story, it was described that Calixta’s room was dim and mysterious with an open door. I may be confused, but I would believe that whenever two people were about to engage in sexual activity that the lights would be dim, and it seems as though the door was open as a natural invitation for Calixta and Alcee to go inside of the room and rekindle an old flame. I mean, it could just be me but it sounds about right. Also, the color and word “white” was used an ample amount of times throughout the short story to describe her breasts, neck, or skin in general, as well as the white couch mentioned in the text. “She was a revelation in that dim, mysterious chamber; as white as the couch she lay upon.” It’s obvious as to what was going on here, and it’s even more obvious as to how the setting affects it. With what the storm keeping her husband and son away, and yet being an excuse for Alcee to shelter himself inside of Calixta’s home, and later her and her husband’s bed.

 

 

1st Short Story

I must say, I found myself cackling quite a bit at this literary work. It captured the inner-workings of the emblematic, teenage, male mind perfectly. My humorous side was enthralled by the young male’s enchantment regarding the small, but allegedly enticing, details on the young ladies’ bodies.  I mean, what teenage guy hasn’t noticed the white, crescent moon shapes that the sun cannot reach beneath a girl’s hindquarters? Come on guys, we know you gaze while at the pool or beach. It’s human nature. Sammy is a typical, teenage male who was slightly hypnotized by a few immodest, young ladies. No, not all guys are the same, but we are all human, and we all have our guilty pleasures.

What struck me most surprisingly, however, was the amount of courage that Sammy had to quit his job. Personally, if I were in that situation, I would not quit my job for the simple reason of some good-looking girls, who I might have been interested in, getting a little embarrassed. After all, it truly isn’t appropriate to walk into a grocery store, or any public place for that matter, wearing only a bikini. They brought the embarrassment onto themselves. I guess if you’re a desperate, teenage boy then it may have been appropriate to quit your job, the way you’re receiving pay, probably the only income you have… Overall, to me the story was genuinely amusing and dynamic. It threw me for a whirl in the beginning with the description of the first girl, as well with Sammy quitting his job, but expectantly went back to the generic thoughts of a young man.