Example research essay topic: Langston Hughes Couldnt Afford - 1,803 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

Holli A. Ramsey Ramsey 1 Lit 345 February 24, 1997 Langston Hughes is represented in Black Voices by the Tales of Simple. Hughes first presents his character Jessie B. Semple in the Forward: Who is Simple? In this tale the reader is given its first look at the character Jessie B.

Semple who is a black man that represents almost the anybody or everybody of black society. Semple is a man who needs to drink, to num the pain of living life. Usually over a glass of beer, he tells me his tales with a pain in his soul sometimes as the old blues says Simple might be laughing to keep from crying (98, 99). Jessie B.

Semple, also known as Simple, has just the right combination of qualities to be Black Americas new spokesman and unsung hero. Semple seems to possess just enough urban humor and cynicism, down-home simplicity, naivete, and boy-next-door innocence that Semple easily becomes a character that hard-working, average, everyday people can relate to. He quickly becomes this sort of Black Everyman whose bunions hurt all the time and whose thoughts are relatively quite simple, yet he is a man who rises above these facts and has a perception that shows the man to have great wisdom and incredible insight. And although he maintains a seriousness for all his wisdom to come through; his presentation of the facts is given in a humorous manner. In Bop, Thats why so many white folks do not get their heads beat just for being white. But me a cop is liable to grab me almost anytime and beat my head- just for being colored (105).

This side to Semple is an example of Hughes attempt to give simple facts or actual truth but instead of telling these things harshly and angrily he tries to sweeten them with a little sarcastic humor. At times, Simple is full of pain. I have had so many hardships in this life, said Simple, that it is a wonder Ill live until I die (105). This comment by Semple is one of Ramsey 2 many that help portray him as a simple man who has been both mentally and physically broken-down by society but who in Census also says that, in spite of all the hardships he has experienced, he is still here. Hughes, by using Semple, shows his discontent of the black mans world, yet in showing these feelings Hughes never portrays himself to be angry, overcome by fear, or overwhelmed by racial paranoia. During these desperate and hard years (post-war years), Semple who is from the urban ghetto is himself free of the problems that plague many ghetto dwellers during this time.

Semple is a man who avoids the inhibitions of welfare, crime, and drugs which is something that many of his neighbors do not do, yet in no way is Semple ever shown to possess the intelligence of a genius, not even for his seemingly flawless character. Hughes character is a simple man who is never shown to have complete misery while at the same time he also never has the greatest life either. Rather, he symbolizes an innocent comical view of both black and white America, which is the basis of Hughes perspective of the Black mans existence. During Hughes career as a man of great literature, Hughes wrote of a life of frustrations and dreams deferred and of being a minstrel man who laughs to hide his pain, but what is seen through Hughes character Jessie B.

Semple is Hughes approach at a comical view. Through his character, Semple, Hughes shows that even with the complexities of modern urban living that simplicity will prevail with simple men who provide simple truths backed by simple answers. For this reason the Simple stories were written for his own people because until this time most of Hughes work had been written for the white readers of the time. However, with his new character Jessie B. Semple, Hughes returned to his own people rather than reaching out to the white readers as he had been doing before.

In conclusion, his character held the manners, talk, and dreams that were in reality the major concerns of Hughes imagination. For Hughes the ghetto was more than a place Ramsey 3 to live and write rather it was a place that held his interest with all that it had to offer: from the people that lived there to the individual personality that the place held for itself. Regardless of what was thought to intrans Hughes into dwelling in such a place, he was not consumed by merely its name alone (Harlem) moreover it was the people and atmosphere that most struck Hughes and pulled him into this place. Here he became a voice that spoke what many saw, yet they failed to speak because of the racial tensions of the time. Overall then, his character Jessie B.

Semple was merely an extension of a voice for all those who failed to speak up when they most needed to but couldnt afford to because of the times Ramsey 4 Chapman, Abraham. Black Voices: An Anthology of Afro-American Literature, Signet, New York, 196 Holli A. Ramsey Ramsey 1 Lit 345 February 24, 1997 Langston Hughes is represented in Black Voices by the Tales of Simple. Hughes first presents his character Jessie B. Semple in the Forward: Who is Simple? In this tale the reader is given its first look at the character Jessie B.

Semple who is a black man that represents almost the anybody or everybody of black society. Semple is a man who needs to drink, to num the pain of living life. Usually over a glass of beer, he tells me his tales with a pain in his soul sometimes as the old blues says Simple might be laughing to keep from crying (98, 99). Jessie B. Semple, also known as Simple, has just the right combination of qualities to be Black Americas new spokesman and unsung hero. Semple seems to possess just enough urban humor and cynicism, down-home simplicity, naivete, and boy-next-door innocence that Semple easily becomes a character that hard-working, average, everyday people can relate to.

He quickly becomes this sort of Black Everyman whose bunions hurt all the time and whose thoughts are relatively quite simple, yet he is a man who rises above these facts and has a perception that shows the man to have great wisdom and incredible insight. And although he maintains a seriousness for all his wisdom to come through; his presentation of the facts is given in a humorous manner. In Bop, Thats why so many white folks do not get their heads beat just for being white. But me a cop is liable to grab me almost anytime and beat my head- just for being colored (105). This side to Semple is an example of Hughes attempt to give simple facts or actual truth but instead of telling these things harshly and angrily he tries to sweeten them with a little sarcastic humor. At times, Simple is full of pain.

I have had so many hardships in this life, said Simple, that it is a wonder Ill live until I die (105). This comment by Semple is one of Ramsey 2 many that help portray him as a simple man who has been both mentally and physically broken-down by society but who in Census also says that, in spite of all the hardships he has experienced, he is still here. Hughes, by using Semple, shows his discontent of the black mans world, yet in showing these feelings Hughes never portrays himself to be angry, overcome by fear, or overwhelmed by racial paranoia. During these desperate and hard years (post-war years), Semple who is from the urban ghetto is himself free of the problems that plague many ghetto dwellers during this time. Semple is a man who avoids the inhibitions of welfare, crime, and drugs which is something that many of his neighbors do not do, yet in no way is Semple ever shown to possess the intelligence of a genius, not even for his seemingly flawless character.

Hughes character is a simple man who is never shown to have complete misery while at the same time he also never has the greatest life either. Rather, he symbolizes an innocent comical view of both black and white America, which is the basis of Hughes perspective of the Black mans existence. During Hughes career as a man of great literature, Hughes wrote of a life of frustrations and dreams deferred and of being a minstrel man who laughs to hide his pain, but what is seen through Hughes character Jessie B. Semple is Hughes approach at a comical view. Through his character, Semple, Hughes shows that even with the complexities of modern urban living that simplicity will prevail with simple men who provide simple truths backed by simple answers.

For this reason the Simple stories were written for his own people because until this time most of Hughes work had been written for the white readers of the time. However, with his new character Jessie B. Semple, Hughes returned to his own people rather than reaching out to the white readers as he had been doing before. In conclusion, his character held the manners, talk, and dreams that were in reality the major concerns of Hughes imagination. For Hughes the ghetto was more than a place Ramsey 3 to live and write rather it was a place that held his interest with all that it had to offer: from the people that lived there to the individual personality that the place held for itself. Regardless of what was thought to intrans Hughes into dwelling in such a place, he was not consumed by merely its name alone (Harlem) moreover it was the people and atmosphere that most struck Hughes and pulled him into this place.

Here he became a voice that spoke what many saw, yet they failed to speak because of the racial tensions of the time. Overall then, his character Jessie B. Semple was merely an extension of a voice for all those who failed to speak up when they most needed to but couldnt afford to because of the times Ramsey 4 Works Cited Chapman, Abraham. Black Voices: An Anthology of Afro-American Literature, Signet, New York, 196 Holli A. Ramsey Ramsey 1 Lit 345 February 24, 1997 Langston Hughes is represented in Black Voices by the Tales of Simple. Hughes first presents his character Jessie B.

Semple in the Forward: Who is Simple? In this tale the reader is given its first look at the character Jessie B. Semple who is a black man that represents almost the anybody or everybody of black society. Semple is a ma

Research essay sample on Langston Hughes Couldnt Afford