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Kirk Welsh

July 27, 2009

SWC 100 Paper #2

Hughes the Mad Man, Hughes the Shrewd Man

Langston Hughes, the author and poet, seems to have two different personalities when

it comes to writing poems and novels. It seems as if the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde has

come into effect. During the times in which Jim Crow Laws were in effect, these two sides

of Hughes seemed to represent the two sides of the black community. Out of the two, one of

the sides was passive and accepted the situation for what it was; the other side proved to be

an unnecessary one, as he was angry about the treatment of Blacks and hated Whites.

Langston Hughes’ poems, such as “Railroad Avenue” or “Mother to Son,” represented the

submissive side, and the novel The Best of Simple best represented angry blacks during this

time. The two forms of writing of Hughes relates to the teachings of Malcolm X and Dr.

Martin Luther King, through their tone and attitude. His poem and short stories cater to two

types of persons; the ones who like to get straight to the point (poems) and the ones who like

to prolong the main point building up to a climax (short stories).

In a poem, the writer hops straight on the main point in a few lines. Poems are not

long, which forces the writer to throw all of their feelings out on the page from the very

beginning. In Hughes’ poems, he is very emotional and shows his anger, sorrow or happiness

well. Usually within the title or the first few lines, Hughes’ mood is revealed. “Sometimes

there’s a wind in the Georgia dusk, That cries and cries and cries, Its lonely pity through the

Georgia dusk, Veiling what the darkness hides.” (Hughes, “Georgia Dusk”) In this poem,

just from the first four lines it is evident that Hughes feels grief. The poem consists of twelve

lines and does not prolong any important information from the beginning to the end. Another
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poem, “Mulatto,” displays the same example of jumping right on the main point. “I am your

son, white man! Georgia dusk, and the turpentine woods. One of the pillars of the temple

fell. You are my son! Like hell!” (Hughes, “Mullato”). The first six lines show that the

narrator’s voice is angry. People that are more upfront would enjoy Hughes’ poems, but

Hughes’ short stories follow a completely different structure.

A short story builds and builds information to an exciting pinnacle. In other words,

the author gives bits and pieces of information up until a huge scene occur, which changes

the direction of the story. Thisis made possible because of the length of the material. In

Hughes’ novel The Best Of Simple, all of the main characters emotions and feelings are

captured. They arecaptured easily because it is in more detail and prolonged to the point that

it is difficult to let the emotions go over the reader’s head. The points are detailed sat in front

of your face kind of like a remedial class. In the story, the main character Simple speaks in

the voice of a man of the streets, whom goes through a struggle every day. “Man,you don’t

know how I have suffered these last few weeks… Joyce’s birthday, the Urban League ball we

had to go to, income tax, hospital bill, and so forth.” (Hughes, “No Alternative” 70). The

main character talks in a more informal way and states the hard times.

“Well, when Christ comes back this time, I hope He comes back mad his own self. I

hope He drives the Jim Crowers out of their high places, ever living last one of them from

Washington to Texas! I hope He smites white folks down!” (Hughes, “Simple Prays a

Prayer” 10). This is one of the first chapters of the book, and it is already evident that the

main character Simple feels much tension. He hates the whites and their Jim Crow Laws, and

wishes that the Almighty Creator (God) will come down from Heaven and wrap all whites up

in an angry wrath. This represents the side of Hughes and the blacks built up with hate and

fury due to this mistreatment;similar to the teachings of Malcolm X. Malcolm X believed

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that in order for an African American to get their point across, aggression and havoc had to

be present. Fighting these opposed individuals was the only answer to the problem,

according to Malcolm X. Consequently, Hughes put all of these characteristics in Simple,

the main character in the novel.

The attitude built up inside of Simple caused him to drink a lot and have hostility

towards women. There are many references, in the book, that shows Simple’s resentment.

“It was only after Eve got hold of the apple that everything got wrong, huh? Snakes started

to bite, women to fight, men to paying, and Christians to praying… A woman can make a

fool out of a man” (Hughes, “Wooing the Muse” 32). Simple thought of women as the

bottom of the earth, and blamed them for turning the world upside down.

“Well, son, I’ll tell you: Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair… But all the time I’se

been climbin’ on… So boy don’t you turn back. Don’t you set down on the steps ‘Cause you

finds it’s kinder hard” (Hughes, “Mother to Son”). Langston Hughes’ submissive attitude is

shown here in the poem “Mother to Son.” The narrator of the poem realizes that racism has

caused her life to be hard. In spite of the hardship, she encourages her son not to give up and

keep on moving. The narrator in The Best of Simpleresembles the narrator in this poem. The

narrator in the story is somewhat submissive to the fact that not all whites are harsh. He

sides with some of these whites. He has an educated background, and been around both

Caucasians and African Americans, so he understands both sides. This theory rather

connects to the philosophies of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King encouraged blacks to fight

against the Jim Crow Laws without violence and anger. Instead of physical violence, he

[King] assembled boycotts and the famous “March on Washington” to speak out on the topic.

. Through his writings, Hughes brought both types of people, the Malcolm X type and the

Dr. King type, together to bring about this change. Mutually, Malcolm and King helped
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because not everything can be solved by one type of person; violent and nonviolent people

play their own role to create a change.

The two sides of Langston Hughes feud against each other about the topic of racism

in America. The poet side of Hughes seems to be more understanding of the situation than

the author side of Hughes. Hughes the author contains much tension and anger about the

situation, and has a much more violent response to racism in the country. Although these

double sides handle the subject differently, they have a clear understanding that

discrimination is not right at all. As sad as it is, in some way it still exists today and may

never become fully ceased. These Jim Crow laws were everywhere and separated blacks

from the rest of the world; today, however, today they are eliminated and inequity is illegal in

today’s society. Seeing, as discrimination is not as open as it used to be when Hughes was

still alive, the question of which side will Hughes choose to be on springs to the surface.

Although times are easier, would Hughes take the passive role of the poet? On the other

hand, would he continue to take the role of the mad man that is upset about being

discriminated against?

Works Cited

Hughes, Langston. “No Alternative.” The Best of Simple. 1961. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992.

70-72.

--. “Simple Prays a Prayer.” The Best of Simple. 1961. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992. 6-10.

--. “Wooing the Muse.” The Best of Simple. 1961. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992. 28-34.

--. “Georgia Dusk.”

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--. “Mother to Son.”

--. “Mulatto.”