Democracy Literary Analysis[edit]

Introduction[edit]

James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, and playwright⁽¹⁾. Hughes was born on February 1^st, 1901 to a middle class African American family in Joplin, Missouri; thus, he had a luxury not many black kids at the time had, Langston could receive a good education. Hughes experienced his first share of racial discrimination at a young age when he was picked on by his classmates and teachers based on his skin color. Hughes later became obsessed with poetry, writing his first poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” at the age of 17. Langston was also a social activist using his expertise in writing to write an in-depth weekly column in a leading black newspaper, The Chicago Defender from 1942 to 1962.

As a social activist Hughes used his poems to sway the public’s opinion on colored people and inspire black people to fight for their rights, which would help in the civil rights movement. The poem “Democracy” was written in 1949 to ask for his rights and freedom as an American citizen regardless of his skin color, Hughes wants equal treatment both legally and ethically throughout his own country.

Hughes was an African American writer whose poems, columns, novels, and plays made him a leading part of Harlem's burgeoning cultural movement, what is commonly known as the Harlem Renaissance, which was the African American movement in the 1920s that celebrated black life and culture. Hughes's was influenced by his life in Harlem, a primarily African American neighborhood to create his poems.

The poem starts with Hughes saying that democracy will never come through "compromise and fear." Hughes has as much right to own the land and stand on his own two feet, just like anybody else. He then goes on to talk about the people who say freedom will come tomorrow, just let it take its course. Hughes feels that those people are wrong, since he “cannot live on tomorrow's bread”. Freedom is a "strong seed" and is planted in “a great need,” and since the speaker lives here, he deserves freedom just like anybody else.

Literary Analysis[edit]

Throughout ‘Democracy’ Hughes explores themes of equal rights, freedom, and change. He is advocating for all three of these things while at the same time asking the reader to consider why he must work for them at all. Equal rights should mean equal rights to all people no matter their skin color or ethnic background. This poem is aimed at any minority whose rights under the law have been stomped out or suppressed specifically in the United States.

Modernism is a period in literary history which started in the early 20^th century and continued until the early 1940s.⁽²⁾ Modernist writers changed their formulaic verse from the 19^th century to fragmented short verses. World War I and The Great Depression caused widespread suffering in Europe and the United States. Despite, the suffering the modernist period proved to be one of the richest and most productive period in American literature.⁽⁵⁾

In the first stanza of the poem the writer begins with telling the reader that democracy is not going to be achieved through ‘compromise’ or through ‘fear’. The masses will not be silenced into compliance through persuasion, freedom is not gained through incremental changes but through a complete overhaul of the system. Hughes uses both pathos and logos to both empathize with his readers and to share his opinion.

In the second stanza, Hughes states that he as an African American has just as much right to “stand on his own two feet” as anyone else. He should be able to “own the land” he lives on and be able to vote and act as he likes.

The third stanza expresses the Hughes irritation with the arguments against equal rights over the years. Hughes is tired of people saying things should “take their course” and that eventually, it will all work out. Hughes does not feel the same way. He cannot live on the hopes of tomorrow. Hughes thinks that freedom 10 or 100 years in the future does nothing for him today.

In the fourth stanza, he says freedom is a “strong seed” This compares freedom to a strong seed, meaning it is something you need in order to accomplish the growth of life. By using the seed as a metaphor for freedom, the writer is saying that it will grow steadily and then flourish and that freedom will allow him to blossom in strength and then benefit the African American community.

In the fifth stanza, Hughes uses the words “too” and “you” to make the reader feel that he is just like “you” and that he also deserves to “live here” and have freedom “just as you” experience it.

During the Civil Rights Movement were protests, and demonstrations to abolish segregation. Jim Crow laws still existed during the 1950’s and 1960’s.⁽⁴⁾ African American writers wrote to express feelings of self-worth, and to highlight the importance of African Americans in society. Many protests during the Civil Rights Movement were met with painful consequences such as arrests. In spite of the severe consequences, African American writers such as Hughes continued to write about the unfair conditions for black people in the United States and the need for equality among all races. “I swear to the Lord, I still can't see, why Democracy means, everybody but me.” -Langston Hughes

References

1.ThingLink. “Poet Langston Hughes by Harlemshake.” ThingLink, www.thinglink.com/scene/504443698726043649.

2.“Canaday Center.” The University of Toledo, www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/guidepages/Modernism2.html.

3.“Democracy Poems - Poems For Democracy - Poem Hunter.” PoemHunter.com, www.poemhunter.com/poems/democracy/.

3.stplreferencecovington July 14, and Stplreferencecovington. “Brief History of African American Literature. Part 3: Literature of the Civil Rights Movement.” St Tammany Parish Library, www.sttammanylibrary.org/blogs/post/brief-history-of-african-american-literature-part-3-literature-of-the-civil-rights-movement/.

4.“Langston Hughes.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes.

5. History of Modernism, www.mdc.edu/wolfson/academic/artsletters/art_philosophy/humanities/history_of_modernism.htm.