Poor Little Black Fellow
by Kenny, Ciaran, Oliver, and Dylan
Setting and Historical Context
Setting:
-New England in the home of his new white family.
-Paris on vacation with his new white family.
-This all took place during the time of segregation(1920s).
Historical Context:
-New England in the 1920s was thought to be a non racist area but the north still had segregated
parts. For example some jobs were made unavailable to blacks, unions were off limits to
blacks.
-During the 1920s the Segregation of blacks was a national war being fought by every citizen,
everyone had their own opinion and everyone fought for it in their own way.
-Paris was much less segregated place compared to New England in the 1920s
-In Paris during this time your social status is determined by your wealth.
Theme
The theme in the story is that all the white people had their ways and with
what was decided by law not as caucasian.
Conflict
The conflict in the story is that Arnie (the main character) is against society
and his adoptive parents. He is against society because everyone around
him in his hometown is so “nice” to him, but Arnie can tell that its all
fake. Everyone in the family's church thinks of Arnie as a christian charity
and gives him over the top niceness since they know he can't be a part of
anything, because he is the only black person in this small town. Arnie is
against his parents because later on in the book they all go to france. In
france Arnie gets a taste of life with less segregation and in france he
meets a girl. When Arnie says he wants to stay in france his parents they
for the first time show there true colors and tell him no because they
think that he is there property.
Summary
The story begins when the son, Arnie, of 2 black servants is orphaned and the employers of his parents
adopt him in pity. Deemed “poor little black fellow” he was raised as if he were one of their own, receiving
shelter, education, food, and even money to have for himself but was it really all out of generosity. Soon
enough he starts noticing everyone is unusually nice to him, giving him pity, not being his friends. everyone in
his small town including his parents the Pembertons give him pity as a way of showing they are well mannered
people, doing this was such a good deed to them they didn’t have to be good to anyone else but soon Arnie
starts to become frustrated with his life, the way they treat him as if he were less than everyone there. The
Pembertons once again tried to solve this problem by being extremely nice to poor Arnie, but this only made it
worse this time they won’t be able to fix it by ignoring it. Soon after, the family takes a trip to Paris where
Arnie meets a beautiful black singer, Claudina, that invites Arnie to her house to have some fun and discover
Paris. Arnie was stunned, hes never been invited to do something without it being out of pity, this was his first
real chance to make friends or to meet a girl. Arnie jumped at the opportunity and had the best night of his
life, he realized in paris it wasn’t about your skin color, no one cared if he was black or not just that he was a
person they could socialize with. He met a Rumanian white girl named Vivi, she was poor but to Arnie that
wasn’t important, she is his dream mate, a white girl essentially the forbidden fruit of his homeland. Arnie’s
family disagreed with Arnie going out late in Paris and they attempted to keep him within reach but he slipped
out at night to go see Vivi. Arnie returns to the Pembertons with Vivi and introduces her to his family but the
reaction is bitter. The Pembertons reject the girl and tell Arnie he must return with them to America, but he
refuses and Stays to live his life Happily ever after with Vivi.
About Langston Hughes
-James Mercer Langston Hughes died at 65 years old who lived in New York but was an American
Poet, Social, Novelist, Playwright, Activist and Columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators
of the then-now literary art form called jazz poetry. Hughes is best known as a leader of the
Harlem Renaissance.
Literary Criticism
Work Cited
•
•
•
•
"Racial Segregation." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29
Jan. 2014. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
"Ruby Soup with Pearl Juice." Ruby Soup with Pearl Juice.
Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
"Poor Little Black Fellow Langston Hughes - Google
Search." Poor Little Black Fellow Langston Hughes - Google
Search. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
"Poor Black Little Fellow." StudyMode. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.