I, Too, Sing America

I, Too, Sing America

by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.

Tomorrow,I'll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody'll dareSay to me,"Eat in the kitchen,"Then.

Besides, They'll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Pg2I Hear America Singing By Walt WhitmanI hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand

singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,

The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or

at noon intermission or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of

the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the dayat night the party of young fellows,

robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.Pg3POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE

ASSIGNMENT ON THE POSTCOLONIAL READING OF

I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes Submitted by

S.Pavitra

09ENG32

While we analyse I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes (pg 2), it is only natural to also take into view I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman (pg 3). Hughes claims Whitman to be one of his inspirations, and though not intended to be a reaction to his poem I, Too, Sing America can be better understood with reference to I Hear America Singing. I Hear America Singing presents an image of America that America would like to believe truean image of proud and healthy individualists engaged in productive and happy labor. Mechanic, carpenter, mason, boatman, deckhand, shoemaker, hatter, wood-cutter, plowboyfrom city to country, from sea to land, the "varied carols" reflect a genuine joy in the days creative labor that makes up the essence of American.I, Too, Sing America is the voice of the black community in America. Though the narration is singular, it's almost as if a whole community is speaking this poem, instead of just one individual. In light of Whitmans poem, I, Too, Sing America seems to be saying Hey I work too. I work harder than you know. You should sing about me, too and you will". That kind of sums up Hughes's poem. The whole idea seems to assert the narrator's identity as a human being, an American citizen and a beautiful one, at that. The poem is told in the present tense and in first person, and yet its subject and time period could be seen either as slave-owning America or early 20th-century America. The speaker in this poem could be thought of as a person from either of these times, and serves as a kind of "representative" of all black Americans in Americas history.

Literally, there's no violence in the poem at all but there's plenty of oppression, and if you look at the poem in its full cultural context (i.e., that of slavery), there's plenty of suggested violence within the text here. The actions of the white Americans in this piece are blatantly oppressive, and those same actions are just bristling with a subtle, almost-there violence. When the narrator says that he is the darker brother, we know that he is speaking of his skin colour and is referencing to the "brotherhood" of all men in America. So he's asserting his identity not only as a black man, but also as a vital part of American society as a whole. The narrator here isn't speaking just for himself he's speaking on behalf of his entire race. When the white people in the house have guests, the narrator is sent to eat in the kitchen, as if to show him where he actually belongs according to the whites. We should note that even though we eat in the kitchen in the modern day homes, eating in the kitchen was much less common back in the days of slavery. Back then, you always ate in the dining room. Eating in the kitchen was just for slaves and animals.

But the narrator laughs, eats and grows strong.The food imagery here is drastically different from the image presented in the previous couple of lines. Earlier the whites use the food (asking them to eat in the kitchen) as a means to show their superioty and control ; but here, the food is to show that its a way for the oppressed to enrich themselves and to "grow strong". The "eating well," in this case, stands for educating themselves and growing from experience.Tomorrow, the narrator imagines the future with hope and is assertive about it. He'll be on equal footing with his white oppressors and will sit on the table. He gives almost like a threat (Nobody'll dare) that he has earned his freedom and no one will now dare to oppress him any longer. Not only is he present at the table, but he will have some control over what people do and don't say to him, that is he will command respect.And he goes on, the Americans will realise not only his existance but his beauty also. He hasnt grown beautiful over the course of the poem, every human being is beautiful only that since the Americans havent treated him like a human, let alone an equal, they will be ashamed of themselves when they realise that he is equal. Pg5I, too, am America. The narrator as a member of an oppressed race, is asserting that he, too, belongs in America, is a part of it and is integral to its very existence. Just as much as anyone else.

While Whitman speaks of all the Americans singing he very generally recalls different professionals and how they make the chorus of the country. Itseems as if Hughes in his poem reminds Whitman and others that he(the community of African Americans) too is a part of the America Whitman is talking about and his singing also forms a part of the chorus of America.. The narrator does not only stop at saying that he too sings America. But depicts the situation at present and gives a vision into the future; saying that you might not include me now but wait, there will be a time when I will sit equal to you and you will have to agree that Im as much American as you are. Pg6