Literary Analysis
Point of view is when a reader can know the thoughts, actions, and words from someone’s perspective. For example, there is the first person point of view, where the narrator is the one telling the story from his or her point of view. In the story “Why, You Reckon?” by Langston Hughes, the narrator is telling the story in first person, from his point of view. The narrator tells the reader about his actions, the words he says, and even what he thinks as he relays what happened to him, a stranger he encounters, and an innocent young man. In “Why, You Reckon?” Langston Hughes uses point of view to show how the narrator reacts in some ways to the different things being done or said during the short story. At the beginning of the …show more content…
The narrator also describes how he and the boy feel after the stranger has left and is long gone. “And, man, don’t you know he went on out from that basement and took all that stuff! Left me standin’ just as empty-handed as when I come in there. Yes, sir! He left me with that white boy standin’ in the coal. He’d done took the money, the diamonds, and everythin’, even the shoes! And me with nothin’! Was I stung?” (Multicultural Reader II Hughes 257) “‘Gee, this was exciting,’ said the white fellow, turning up his tux collar. ‘This was thrilling!’. . . ‘This was the first exciting thing that’s ever happened to me,’ said the white guy. ‘This is the first time in my life I’ve ever had a good time in Harlem. Everything else has been fake, a show. You know, something you pay for. This was real.’” (Multicultural Reader II Hughes 258) Both of these quotes take place after the stranger has taken nearly everything from the boy and has left the scene of the crime. In the first quote, the narrator tells the reader about how he got nothing because the stranger left with everything. In the second quote, the narrator relays the boy’s reaction to what had happened to him because of the stranger. The narrator tells the reader how the story ends from his perspective. The narrator also shares the reaction of …show more content…
The first person point of view is used to show, or explain different things, and to explain things differently all throughout Hughes’s story. In the beginning first person point of view is used to mainly explain what is going on with the narrator and his surroundings alone. In the middle, it is used to describe the narrator’s thoughts, actions, and his description of other people’s actions and the narrator’s thoughts of what other people are thinking. In the end, first person is used to describe the other characters’ actions, reactions, feeling and the narrator’s actions, thoughts, feelings, and reactions. In “Why, You Reckon” Langston Hughes uses the first person point of view differently throughout the story. In the beginning, it is used to share with the reader little about what is going in with things not having to deal with the narrator, and as the story moves closer to the end, more about everything besides the narrator is being told to the reader. First person point of view, doesn’t usually have to share everything, but really just anything that the narrator finds relevant to helping the story
Point of view is when a reader can know the thoughts, actions, and words from someone’s perspective. For example, there is the first person point of view, where the narrator is the one telling the story from his or her point of view. In the story “Why, You Reckon?” by Langston Hughes, the narrator is telling the story in first person, from his point of view. The narrator tells the reader about his actions, the words he says, and even what he thinks as he relays what happened to him, a stranger he encounters, and an innocent young man. In “Why, You Reckon?” Langston Hughes uses point of view to show how the narrator reacts in some ways to the different things being done or said during the short story. At the beginning of the …show more content…
The narrator also describes how he and the boy feel after the stranger has left and is long gone. “And, man, don’t you know he went on out from that basement and took all that stuff! Left me standin’ just as empty-handed as when I come in there. Yes, sir! He left me with that white boy standin’ in the coal. He’d done took the money, the diamonds, and everythin’, even the shoes! And me with nothin’! Was I stung?” (Multicultural Reader II Hughes 257) “‘Gee, this was exciting,’ said the white fellow, turning up his tux collar. ‘This was thrilling!’. . . ‘This was the first exciting thing that’s ever happened to me,’ said the white guy. ‘This is the first time in my life I’ve ever had a good time in Harlem. Everything else has been fake, a show. You know, something you pay for. This was real.’” (Multicultural Reader II Hughes 258) Both of these quotes take place after the stranger has taken nearly everything from the boy and has left the scene of the crime. In the first quote, the narrator tells the reader about how he got nothing because the stranger left with everything. In the second quote, the narrator relays the boy’s reaction to what had happened to him because of the stranger. The narrator tells the reader how the story ends from his perspective. The narrator also shares the reaction of …show more content…
The first person point of view is used to show, or explain different things, and to explain things differently all throughout Hughes’s story. In the beginning first person point of view is used to mainly explain what is going on with the narrator and his surroundings alone. In the middle, it is used to describe the narrator’s thoughts, actions, and his description of other people’s actions and the narrator’s thoughts of what other people are thinking. In the end, first person is used to describe the other characters’ actions, reactions, feeling and the narrator’s actions, thoughts, feelings, and reactions. In “Why, You Reckon” Langston Hughes uses the first person point of view differently throughout the story. In the beginning, it is used to share with the reader little about what is going in with things not having to deal with the narrator, and as the story moves closer to the end, more about everything besides the narrator is being told to the reader. First person point of view, doesn’t usually have to share everything, but really just anything that the narrator finds relevant to helping the story