The poem, Theme for English, by the eminent poet, Langston Hughes, gives the impression that it has been penned in a stream of consciousness and the readers readily connect with the speaker who goes on to describe his meandering thoughts and questions. The speaker in this poem is a young black person of 22 years who studies in an institution. In an age riddled with racism, this individual comes across as open-minded and intrepid enough to face the status quo. He stirs the heart of the readers with his challenging question and his courage of conviction looms large all through the course of the poem.
The poet talks of a black student who is instructed by the teacher to write a paper about himself as an assignment. The poem traverses through the road to take the young reader back to his home. The work portrays the cognition of this lad who embarks upon a journey of thought to comprehend his identity. The concluding line of the poem, “This is my page for English B” (Hughes II. 41), points to the fact that perhaps this is actually the paper which was written by this black lad for the assignment.
The time when this literary work was penned by Langston Hughes was the late 1910s during the Harlem Renaissance. One might assume with immediacy that the poem revolves round the harrowing theme of racial prejudice and race which was the burning issue of the day. The definition of “race” goes on to say that “each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics” and “a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc.” and “group descended from a common ancestor.”
In the second stanza of the poem, the speaker goes on to express that fact that he is “the only colored student” (Hughes II. 10) in his class. In stark contrast, the third stanza documents the speaker articulating to his instructor, “I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like / the same things other folks like who are other races” (Hughes II. 25-26), thus testifying the paramount truth that his color does not make him different. He actually is similar to whites, though they might perceive him to be different.
The poet talks to the avid readers through the tender words of this lad. He questions if the page where the lines would be penned would be colored. The poem is a quest for comprehending the lad’s racial identity and humanity which transcends the constricted barriers of baleful prejudices shrouding our minds with the mist of discrimination.
At the end of the poem, the black lad understands the similarity which prevails as ubiquitous between the black and the white. The poet aptly pens, “As I learn from you,I guess you learn from me” (Hughes II.37-38). He goes on to declare that he will learn from the instructor and similarly the instructor too will imbibe from him in the course of interaction.
The poet uses personal pronouns like “I”, “me” and “you” throughout the poem. This reflects the central theme of this poem. The question remains if the journey of a soul to find his identity should be dependent on his race, or whether that individual should situate himself in the society though the everyday elements and perceptions of life. The poet aptly uses the word “I” to enquire, tell how old he is and let the readers know about his birthplace, race and college and even the way back to his home to the Harlem Branch YMCA where he resides. Actually, this is how the lad identifies himself to others outwardly.
In the third stanza, however, the black lad goes on to draw a comparison between himself and his instructor. Hughes writes, “But I guess I’m what / I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you: / hear you, hear me – we two – you, me, talk on this page” (Hughes II.17-19), aptly portraying how the speaker identifies himself with the Harlem. Quite a number of black people were greatly influenced by the Harlem’s empowerment. It was perceived to be a great thing to have a black heritage and the Harlem was a haven for black poets, authors and musicians.
Being immensely encouraged by living in Harlem, the young lad sees his identity in stark juxtaposition to the racial identity of his instructor, a white person. The boy says, “Me – who?” (Hughes II. 20). This expresses that his identity lies unclear to him or maybe to the whites who generally stereotyped the blacks. At the end of the fourth stanza it is expressed that the blacks are proud of their American heritage.
The poet writes in the third stanza expressing the things which the black lad enjoys which help in his identification. These include “records – Bessie, bop, or Bach” (Hughes II. 24) which alliteratively emphasizes the three distinguishable types of music which include the bop genre, the jazz vocalist Bessie Smith and classical Bach. This brings to light the fact that the inclination toward jazz and bop music which was common among the black people does not necessarily imply that he cannot like classical music which is attributed to the white culture of America. The alliterative writing brings forth the similarity of the three which he is fond of. Thus, the poet expresses how the cultural associations can lead to erroneous identification and stereotyping an individual.
The poet aptly utilizes the rhyme scheme to accentuate the affect of the poem. The internal rhyme renders an exquisite flow to the poem. The poet pens, “Nor do I often want to be a part of you. / But we are, that’s true!” (Hughes IV.35-36). The poem establishes the universal truth that the omnipotent commonality between the black and the white is that they are part of one another. The lad emerges to this final decision and the end rhymes are even implying that his comprehension is correct and insurmountable. He goes on to proclaim at the end, says “I guess you learn from me - / although you’re older – and white - / and somewhat more free. / This is my page for English B.”
The lad puts forward an unavoidable question in this poem. He ponders how a piece of writing can be meaningful and true in the similar way for both black and white people. In the entire poem there prevails a sense of sarcasm and irony and the nature of discrimination is gradually unfolded in the course of the writing. The harrowing question which shrouds the mind of an avid reader is whether truth is actually warped by racism. The young black lad concludes saying that the white instructor who had asked him to write about himself is “somewhat more free” in comparison to him.
Through this poem, Hughes portrays the untold struggles of the entire race through the struggle of this black lad. When the poet is talking about learning in this poem, he symbolizes the learning of one’s identity in the society. The lad sits to pen the truth about him and in the process he realizes that the truth is bound by the clutches of one’s race. He wonders why people are not equally free.
This question intrigues him and he reaches the realization which is in reality the blatant portrayal of the hapless situation of the entire world transcending geographical and cultural boundaries of America. The poem stands tall as an immortal literary work in the history of literature and transcends the question of race and prejudice to the journey of finding one’s identity.
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold, ed. Langston Hughes: Comprehensive Research and Study Guide. New York:
Chelsea House Publishers, 1999. Print.
Joy, Anna. We Are America: A Thematic Reader and Guide to Writing. Boston: Thomson
Learning Inc., 2005. Print.
Rubin, Donald L. Composing Social Identity in Written Language. New Jersey: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, Incorporated, 1995. Print.
Shuman, R.B., ed. Great American Writers: Twentieth Century. New York: Marshall Cavendish
Corporation, 2002. Print.
Tarver, Austria, and Paula C. Barnes, ed. Essays on Race, Gender and Literary Discourse. New
Jersey: Rosemont Publishing and Printing Corp., 2006. Print.
