preview

We Will Pay You Langston Hughes Analysis

Good Essays

Langston Hughes, a writer during the Harlem Renaissance, argued that “the Negro artist works against an undertow of sharp criticism and misunderstanding from his own group and unintentional bribes from the whites. ‘Oh, be respectable, write about nice people, show how good we are,’ say the Negroes. ‘Be stereotyped, don't go too far, don't shatter our illusions about you, don't amuse us too seriously. We will pay you,’ say the whites.” Hughes then writes in response to these pressures that “... it is the duty of the younger Negro artist … to change through the force of his art that old whispering ‘I want to be white,’ hidden in the aspirations of his people, to ‘Why should I want to be white? I am a Negro--and beautiful.’" Both black and white …show more content…

However, Hurston’s writing also creates a positive perspective on black culture. Hurston describes the town in the Everglades through the eyes of Janie, writing that “no matter how rough [joking and teasing] was, people seldom got mad, because everything was done for a laugh”, and “everybody loved to hear Ed Dockery, Bootyny, and Sop-de-Bottom in a skin game” (134). Rather than showing the town’s lack of seriousness in a negative way, Hurston depicts the town as full of “laughter,” “love,” and lighthearted games. The characters of Ed Dockery, Bootyny, and Sop-de-Bottom live in the Everglades with Janie and Tea Cake and are a central part of the community. Even though the Everglades town is stereotypically black, Hurston presents this town and its blackness in a positive light. In addition, Janie is accepted quickly by the town; she can “listen and laugh and even talk some if she wanted to” and can “tell big stories herself from listening to the rest” (134). In Eatonville, whose African-American residents act less stereotypically “black” and pretentiously try to emulate white people, Janie is unable to assimilate in such a community. However, the more stereotypically black town in the Everglades is much more accepting towards Janie. By presenting the culture of the Everglades in a favorable way from Janie’s point of view, Hurston shows pride for conventional black culture. The town in the Everglades is also illustrated as lively and jubilant; specifically, nights in the town have “pianos living three lifetimes in one”, “blues made and used right on the spot”, “dancing, fighting, singing, crying, laughing, winning and losing love every hour”. The town’s residents “work all day for money, fight all night for love”, and “the rich black earth cling[s] to bodies and bit[es]

Get Access