Langston Hughes Essay -- essays research papers fc

Langston HughesThroughout many of Langston Hughes poetry, there seems to be a actually strong theme of racism. Poems such as Ballad of the Landlord, I, Too, and dinner Guest Me are some good examples of that theme.The Ballad of the Landlord addresses the issue of hurt in the sense of race as well as class. The lines My ceiling has sprung a leak. / Dont you member I told you about it/ Way last week? (Hughes 2/4) show the reader that the speaker, the tenant, is of a much lower class than his landlord. It also shows that the landlord could care less of what condition his building is in as large as the money is still coming in. Well, thats Ten Bucks moren Ill pay you / bowl you fix this house up new. (Hughes 11/12) shows that the speaker may be cleverer than originally thought because he is hitting the landlord right where it hurts his wallet. At this commit it seems that the speaker may actually win and need his home improve up, until he threatens the landlord in fifth stanz a. Thats when it all turns around. The landlord uses that threat to get the speaker, who we now find out, is black, thrown in jail.Richard K. Barksdale wrote in 1940, Ballad of the Landlord was a earlier innocuous rendering of an imaginary dialogue between a dissatisfied tenant and a tight-fisted landlord. He then goes on to comment about the literature having once again pitted the haves against the have-nots. According to him, the landlord / tenant foeman was just another i...