Analysis Of On The Road By Langston Hughes - 1570 Words

â€Å"On the Road† Analysis â€Å"On the Road† is a short story written by Langston Hughes whose major themes are of race, religion, and subjective nature of fiction. An influential African-American writer, Hughes was born in 1902 and primarily raised by his maternal grandmother (Meyer 1032). Over the course of his illustrious career he would go on to write poems, novels, short stories, essays, plays, opera librettos, histories, documentaries, anthologies, autobiographies, biographies, children’s books, translations, and even radio and television scripts (Meyer 1034). â€Å"On the Road† is one of these works. The story tells of a man known only as Sargeant, who has been left homeless and out of work thanks to the Depression. Despite visiting†¦show more content†¦Although the reverend is a religious man whose faith instructs him to look out for the needy, he promptly shuts Sargeant out of the parsonage. The reverend s inability to manifest an y compassion for a black man reveals the hypocrisy of his religious beliefs as well as the pervasive racism of the 1930s. Like the snow, the reverend is cold and harsh. Sargeant is relieved when he sees the church next door. In this story, Hughes frequently uses doors as symbols of separation between the black and white characters. To continue the metaphor, Sargeant keeps pushing the church door, but it is unyielding; Hughes uses words like hardness, stone, and loftiness to emphasize its inaccessibility. Therefore, Sargeant feels that his only option is to keep pulling at the church door until the entire edifice falls down. This event echoes the biblical story of Samson (whose power was God-given). The cruel white bystanders and cops are buried in the remains of the building, leaving Sargeant free to go on his way. In a second reading, the reader realizes that the church falling down is part of Sargeant s own fantasy after his arrest. In Sargeant s mind, though, his journey continues and he makes his way down the road.Show MoreRelatedAnalysis of on the Road by Langston Hughes Essay1401 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Road by Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes offers a gift in this work which is to open the heart and life will provide unlimited abundance. During this literary analysis Langston Hughes uses nature to demonstrate his main characters unwillingness to participate in life. Another point that Hughes demonstrates is the use of anger and survival and how it can be used as a powerful force in breaking down racial barriers. One more impact Langston Hughes uses is Jesus Christ as a metaphor. Hughes usesRead MoreAnalysis Of On The Road By Langston Hughes868 Words   |  4 PagesWalker insists that there is representation to white people when the narrator of the story â€Å"On the Road† by Langston Hughes speaks of the church and the snow. Walker does include some nice points, points that one could easily see. Some of her points and observations though, I feel are a bit of a long shot. I have the same feelings towards Walker’s comparison of â€Å"On the Road† and the story of Samson. Walker’s first theory is that the snow is â€Å"a symbol of the white oppressive world that is makingRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Langston Hughes s The Road 1402 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Road by Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes offers a gift in this work which is to open the heart and life will provide unlimited abundance. During this literary analysis Langston Hughes uses nature to demonstrate his main character s unwillingness to participate in life. Another point that Hughes demonstrates is the use of anger and survival and how it can be used as a powerful force in breaking down racial barriers. One more impact Langston Hughes uses is Jesus Christ as a metaphor. Hughes usesRead MoreYolande Cornelia â€Å"Nikki† Giovanni Jr Is An Well-Known African-American Poet, Writer, Commentator,978 Words   |  4 PagesYolande Cornelia â€Å"Nikki† Giovanni Jr is an well-known African-American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Today we will look at â€Å"A poem for Langston Hughes† from her collection and do a literary analysis on it. The author took the time to adopt a certain sound throughout her work. You can shape sound within a poem through accent, alliteration, assonance, consonance, internal rhyme, meter, onomatopoeia, rhyme and rhythm. She uses a combination of these sound devices used in poetryRead MoreLiterary Criticsm1882 Words   |  8 Pageson Thank you m’am short story By Langston Hughes Christina taradifa sinaga 13020110141054 Faculty of humanities Diponegoro university 2013 ABSTRACT In this paper the writer wants to write down about Psychological criticism. Psychology is an academic and applied discipline that involves the scientific study of mental functions and behaviors. The purposes of this paper to analysis the psychological of main character in Thank You M’am short story by Langston Hughes. To understand psychological criticismRead MoreLiterary Techniques Poetry Analysis 1758 Words   |  6 PagesLiterary Techniques: Poetry Analysis 1 Diction and Imagery Literary Techniques †¢ The meaning of a poem (i.e its focus, mood and the speaker’s attitude) is enhanced by four main types of literary techniques: †¢ Diction †¢ Imagery †¢ Sound devices †¢ Rhythm, Rhyme and Repetition Diction †¢ Diction is the choice of words a poet uses to bring meaning across. In working through a poem, it is useful to question why a certain word is used, and what kind of effect is achieved with the choice and placementRead MoreHarlem And The Middle Of The 1930s1791 Words   |  8 Pagesscholars. Many had come from the South, fleeing its oppressive caste system in order to find a place where they could freely express their talents; this became known as The Great Migration. Among those artists whose works achieved recognition were Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Arna Bontemps, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jean Toomer. The Renaissance involved racial pride, fueled in part by the violence of the New Negro demanding civil and political rights. The Renaissance incorporated jazzRead MoreNot Without Laughter Study Guide9912 Words   |  40 PagesLiterature Study Guide Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes For the online version of BookRags Not Without Laughter Literature Study Guide, including complete copyright information, please visit: http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-not-without-laughter/ Copyright Information  ©2000-2012 BookRags, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gales For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works:Read MoreMedia Magic Making Class Invisible2198 Words   |  9 Pagesand upper classes as well. Add Project New English essays Much Ado About Gender Roles (15 August) Report regarding a proposed amendment of certain sections of th (13 August) Community Influence In Literature (18 July) Ode To A Urn Detailed Analysis (17 June) Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge (14 June) Newburgh (14 June) Countee Cullen: A Reniassance Man (14 June) Death In The Hours (14 June) Antigone (14 June) The Art Of Persuasion (14 June) Compare And Contrast (13 June) SonnysRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Gwendolyn Brooks s The Bean Eaters 1907 Words   |  8 Pagesencouraged; after reading her seven-year-old daughter s precocious poetry, Brooks s mother proclaimed to her, You are going to be a poet. Brooks published her first poem at age thirteen in American Childhoodmagazine. At age sixteen she met Langston Hughes , who read her poems and offered encouragement after a poetry reading. After graduating from an integrated high school in 1934, Brooks was a regular poetry contributor to the Chicago Defender beginning in 1934. After graduating from Wilson Junior