Dinner Guest: Me
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
•Born -February 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri
•Died May 22, 1967 at age 65 in New York City
• Born to Carrie (Caroline) Mercer Langston and
James Nathaniel Hughes
•Earned a degree from Lincoln University in 1929
Dinner Guest: Me
I know I am
The Negro Problem
Being wined and dined,
Answering the usual questions
That come to white mind
Which seeks demurely
To Probe in polite way
The why and wherewithal
Dinner Guest: Me
Of darkness U.S.A.-Wondering how things got this
way
In current democratic night,
Murmuring gently
Over fraises du bois,
"I'm so ashamed of being
white."
Dinner Guest: Me
The lobster is delicious,
The wine divine,
And center of attention
At the damask table, mine.
To be a Problem on
Park Avenue at eight
Is not so bad.
Solutions to the Problem,
Of course, wait.
T2 This poem is about
Dinner Guest: Me
how Hughes went out to
dinner after he got famous
for his writing
I know I am
The Negro Problem
Being wined and dined,
Answering the usual questions
That come to white mind
Which seeks demurely
To Probe in polite way
The why and wherewithal
rhyme
characterized by shyness
and modesty; reserved
Paraphrase
What this poem is really saying is that the only
reason that those people are having dinner with him is
because he is famous, if he were just some other black
guy, they wouldn’t ask his name let alone ask him to
have a fancy dinner with them.
Dinner Guest: Me
Of darkness U.S.A.-Wondering how things got this
way
how a black man
In current democratic night, could be famous
Murmuring gently
Over fraises du bois,
"I'm so ashamed of being
white."
Are they really?
Or are they
jealous?
Dinner Guest: Me
The lobster is delicious,
The wine divine,
And center of attention
At the damask table, mine.
He would have
To be a Problem on
been the
Park Avenue at eight
problem if he
Is not so bad.
wasn’t famous
Solutions to the Problem,
Of course, wait.
and we still are
waiting for
everyone to get
along
Attitude
The speaker in the poem was the author,
Langston Hughes and the subject he was speaking on
was how once he got famous, he had white people
talking to him and inviting him to dinner but if he
wasn’t famous they wouldn’t even make eye contact
with him.
Shifts
There aren’t many punctuations marks within
the poem but there is a lot of irony in how he is talking.
And center of attention
At the damask table, mine
You can tell he was surprised that he was the center of
attention but at the same time proud of it
Theme
The theme of this poem is acceptance. Even
though Hughes had to become famous before he could
be accepted, he was still invited to a fancy dinner with
white people.