The illustration of social class between White and Black Society, portrayed through Langston Hughes’ poems Theme for English B, Democracy and I Too Sing America
African American poet, Langston Hughes, exposes the history of the segregation of white and black society in America through his various collections of poetry. More specifically, he portrays the illustration of social class within his three poems Theme for English B, Democracy and I Too Sing America. The author writes from the perspective of an African-American exemplifying the emotion of wanting to belong. Hughes shows this separation through his use of literary features, themes and creation of atmosphere and tone throughout his poems.
Hughes creates an atmosphere and tone to illustrate the ‘social class’ in early 20th century America. Democracy tells that “freedom will not come today, this year, nor ever” (Lines 1-2) portraying a lack of hope among the African-American society. It also shows the attitude of tiredness among Black society, how “they cannot live on tomorrow’s bread” (Line 14) and they “have as much right” (Line 4) to “live here too” (Line 17). The contrasting tone present is optimism, where Black society is anticipating a time when they will be treated with equal respect. This tone is heightened by the repetition of “freedom” (Lines 15-17) and “tomorrow” (Lines 12-14) which positions the reader to empathise with African American society. In I Too Sing America, “the darker brother” (Line 2) is “made to eat in the kitchen” (Line 3), away from white society, who shun him for being different, but when different company comes “they’ll see how beautiful [he] is” (Line 15) and “be ashamed” (Line 16) for the unjust they showed him. The tone in I Too Sing America is of the hope that the narrator holds for “tomorrow” (Line 8) and how “[He] too is American” (Line 17), this tone focuses on the culture and struggle of African Americans, illustrating the order of social class to the reader. Theme for English B tells of how society has ignored a “22 year old, coloured man” (Line 7) and how “it’s not easy” (Line 16) being “the only coloured person in [the] class” (Line 10). The tone is harsh, with frequent comparisons between White and Black society such as “you are a part of me, as I am a part of you” (Line 32) and “will my page be coloured that I write, being me it will not be white” (Lines 27-28). Hughes uses these comparisons to highlight the dichotomies between White and Black society. Hence, the creation of tone and atmosphere allows Hughes to effectively illustrate the differing social classes in his poems Theme for English B, Democracy and I Too Sing America.
