Langston Hughes
Different writers are influenced by different means. For Langston Hughes, it was
his family, the Harlem Renaissance, and World War II which inspired his works.
Hughes’ works were influenced by his exposure to the world as a child. He was
told stories that rooted his writing in the lives of blacks. Susan Robinson wrote on
GibbsMagazine.com, that when his parents divorced, he went to live with his
grandmother who “told him about African American heroes like Frederick Douglass and
Sojourner Truth.” She was the one who introduced him to the publication, The Crisis,
edited by W.E.B. Dubois. Biography for Beginners also adds that the years he lived with
his grandmother were significant to Hughes. “He learned about his rich family heritage.
He had black and white ancestors. Some had been slaves, and some had been slave
owners. He learned the legacies of slavery and The Civil War”. The Academy of
American Poets listed his influences, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt
Whitman, who inspired his works for which he later became known for his “insightful,
colorful portrayals of black life in America.” Hughes embraces black culture in many of
his poems. In his poem “Negro” Hughes accepts his heritage saying, “I am a
Negro:/Black as the night is/black, Black like the/ depths of my Africa” (1-4). He
acknowledges his lifestyle and his African roots. Hughes continues to embrace the
African American life in his poem saying, “I am a Negro…I’ve been a slave… I’ve been
a worker… I’ve been a singer… I’ve been a victim…” (1-20). In this poem, Hughes tells
the variety of things he’s been. In addition, this could apply to all Negroes in general
have been known as a slave, worker, singer, and victim throughout history. Through this
poem, and many others, Hughes expresses his African American culture.
Following World War I, a popular movement began known as the Harlem
Renaissance. Hughes is best associated with this group which had poetry, plays, and
art that celebrated African American culture. In a biography of African American
Leaders, SIRS Discoverer names Hughes as the “Leading Figure of the Harlem
Renaissance”. He would write poems, short stories, and plays which were run on
weekends in a theater group he founded, the Harlem Suitcase Theater. In “Dream
Deferred”, one of Hughes’ most famous poems, he talks about the dreams and hopes of
African Americans. “What happens to a dream deferred?” He continues to ponder the
many things that happen to dreams postponed. This demonstrates the frustration of the
people who are denied the right to even hope for a better future because their dreams
were “made to wait” (SIRS Discover). Another theme of the Harlem Renaissance was
an emphasis in the blues which greatly inspired many of Hughes’ works. In “the Blues”
Hughes’ relates bad fortune to “When you go to buy a/ candy bar/ And you’ve lost the
dime/ you had” (5-6). There is a great sense of sadness and depression in this poem as
if nothing will get better.
Additionally, World War II made an impact to Hughes’ poetry. The war shifted his
focus to more political topics. Arnold Rampersad wrote in “Hughes’s Life and Career”
that “with World War II, Hughes more to the center politically.” In his first volume of
autobiography, The Big Sea, Hughes made “virtually no mention of his leftist
sympathies” (Rampersad). In addition, he wrote a collection, Jim Crow’s Last Stand,
where he strongly attacked racial segregation. Hughes addresses the effects of the war
in his poetry. In “Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too?” Hughes inquires if America’s victory will
be victory for all African Americans too. “Shall I still be color’s slave?/ Or will Victory
change/your antiquated views?” (57-59). Hughes wonders if, when the war is over, after
risking his life for the nation, will he still be discriminated against? He fought diligently,
alongside his fellow, white soldiers who get their rights. Where are his? He continues to
hope for a freedom where “his son could be a man--/ And there’d be no Jim Crow/birds/
Left in our sky.” (33-35). In addressing this, he is saying that he wants a freedom where
there would be no black restrictions with the Jim Crow Laws. He gives this poem a
sense of hope for freedom, not just for the war, but for himself and all the other African
Americans.