Analysis Of Negro By Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes’s poem Negro uses metaphors and simile to describe his African heritage, including today’s Africans and African Americans. In his poem, he structures his poem as a Negro, a slave, a worker, a singer, and a victim. As he compares himself to these different people, he gives a brief description of each person.

In the beginning and last stanza, he emphasizes on comparing himself to a Negro. He compares Negro to the night (Roberts 354-355). Even though the night compares to darkness, he makes his color as a positive side, admiring his African heritage. In addition, it influence his audience to accept the color of skin, similar to Dr. King’s speech to unity all races in America, including White and African Americans. Even in his time when African Americans suffered segregation, he accepts his Negro character, showing his confidence and admiration for who he is.

In the second stanza, he compares himself as a slave. Using Caesar and Washington as examples, he humbles himself as a slave, similar to how Africans have been slaves in human history; this compares to slavery in America (Roberts 355). Both Caesar and Washington seemed to have kept slaves, which African slaves became property of most White Americans. They would cook, clean, serve, and work in the fields for slave owners, showing humbleness in their work

Even though some are figurative, since he probably did not visit the places, he helps his audience about who he is as a person. Not only does he explain about whom he is, he also helps his audience understand what his Negro brothers and sisters are suffering from. There, he has confidence in his own character to destroy the lies people through at him. Even in a few words, he is able to speak with a profound, powerful voice in order to uses these metaphors to describe himself, including future African