Langston Hughes The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

Langston Hughes is considered to be one of the quintessential voices of the 1920s and ‘30s Harlem Renaissance movement. Utilizing a wide range of motifs and subject matters, Hughes became a voice for working class Black Americans who were excluded from mainstream American society. In this paper I will attempt to analyze Hughes’ first published poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. Written when he was only seventeen, the poem helped establish his reputation among African American writers, and develop a voice to represent those who weren't allowed to speak. Utilizing the image of a river, Hughes addresses the deeply rooted oppression of Black Americans by presenting the essence of their culture, and omitting the racial stereotypes by which people …show more content…
He utilizes the image of the river as a constant, a force that flows through the hearts of individuals throughout the history of civilization; thus, through the speaker, he is able to emphasize the significance of his ancestor’s contributions to global culture. In order to properly analyze this poem, it is important to define who the speaker is. Clues to the speakers identity can be found in the name of the poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, the speaker referring to itself as “I”, and the wide range of events and time periods that the “I” has witnessed. These clues suggest that the speaker is not a single person or entity; therefore, It can be inferred that the speaker represents a collective consciousness of Black Americans attempting to reclaim their stolen identity. To this end, the speaker begins by taking us back to a time before before European Colonialism. By placing this collective consciousness at the key events and locations in Human history, Hughes highlights the contributions that Black Americans and their ancestors made to civilization; thus, bolstering the claim to a unique racial and cultural