Analysis of Theme of Langston HughesâPoems Through Diction.

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ABSTRACT

Dalam skripsi ini, saya menganalisis tema melalui diksi dari ketiga puisi

Langston Hughes yang berjudul As I Grew Older, The Negro Mother, dan Mother

to Son, yang bercerita tentang perjuangan orang kulit hitam di Amerika

menghadapi masalah diskriminasi ras. Puisi pertama, As I Grew Older,

menceritakan usaha seorang kulit hitam dengan kekuatannya mendapatkan

kembali impiannya. Tema dari puisi pertama adalah “orang kulit hitam harus

memakai kekuatan mereka sendiri untuk mengatasi kesulitan di hidup mereka

untuk mendapat kehidupan yang lebih baik.” Puisi kedua, The Negro Mother,

menceritakan seorang ibu kulit hitam yang walau mengalami perbudakan, tidak

pernah kehilangan harapan akan kebebasan. Nasihatnya kepada generasi

selanjutnya menjadi tema puisi ini: “sejarah penderitaan yang panjang dari orang

kulit hitam harus menjadi sebuah dorongan untuk berjuang untuk kebebasan dan

memiliki sikap positif dalam hidup mereka.” Puisi ketiga berjudul Mother to Son,

menceritakan kehidupan seorang ibu kulit hitam yang penuh dengan kesusahan

dan perjuangan. Nasihat sang ibu kepada anaknya menjadi tema dalam puisi ini

bahwa “semangat juang orang tua dapat mendorong orang muda kulit hitam untuk

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Harlem Renaissance is a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement in

America that kindled a new black cultural identity (“Harlem Renaissance”). It

begins in 1920s and 1930s. Black people experienced discrimination by the white

people. Discrimination is “the practice of treating somebody or particular group

in society less fairly than others (because of somebody’s age, race or sex)”

(“Discrimination,” def. 1). One kind of discrimination is racism. Racism is “the

hatred of one person by another – or the belief that another person is less than

human – because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor

that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person” (“Racism”). Racism is

done by the majority towards the minority. One of the writers in Harlem

Renaissance, who also experienced discrimination is Langston Hughes.

Langston Hughes is one of the American black writers who have written

some works about racism. Hughes wrote about his reflections on political

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He is most famous for literature works which are among others a poetry collection

entitled The Weary Blues (1925), a novel entitled Not Without Laughter (1930),

and a short story collection entitled Laughing to Keep From Crying (1952).

I have chosen Langston Hughes’ poems “As I Grew Older,” “The Negro

Mother,” and “Mother to Son” to be analyzed in this thesis. The literary element I will discuss is theme through diction. “Diction can be defined as style of

speaking or writing determined by the choice of words by a speaker or a writer”

(“Diction”). In poetic diction, figure of speech is included as a device of

comparison. Figure of speech is “a form of expression (as a simile or metaphor)

used to convey meaning or heighten effect often by comparing or identifying one

thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or

listener” (“Figures of Speech”). “Theme is the central, underlying, and

controlling idea or insight of a work of literature” (“The Literary Superpower

Tool of Theme”).

Statement of the Problem

The problems I am going to discuss are stated as follows:

1. What is the theme of three poems by Langston Hughes?

2. How does the diction help to reveal the theme of these three poems?

Purpose of the Study

Based on the problems above, the purposes of the study are:

1. To show the theme of three poems by Langston Hughes.

2. To show how the diction helps to reveal the theme of these three poems.

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I conduct library research for my thesis. First, I read the three poems. After

that, I analyze these poems through the diction. And then I search for a number of

suitable references from books and Internet websites. At the end, I draw a

conclusion from my analysis.

Organization of the Thesis

This thesis consists of three chapters, preceded by the Acknowledgments,

the Abstract and the Table of Contents. Chapter One is the Introduction, which

consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the

Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.

Chapter Two is the theme analysis of three of Langston Hughes’s poems through

diction. Chapter Three is the Conclusion. The thesis ends with the Bibliography

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After I have finished analyzing the three poems by Langston Hughes, I

conclude that Hughes delivers his poems with words that are simple and easy to

be understood. The poems bring up the theme about encouragement and

empowerment against social discrimination, as we can see from the words that are

used by Hughes.

The first poem “As I Grew Older” is about a person who tells about his

life and what he has been through. He says that he had a dream but then, there is

an obstacle that comes to his life. Hughes uses the word “dream” to refer to

something that the persona wishes to have or to be. He compares his dream with

the “sun”, the word which he uses to symbolize his hope. The word “bright” in

“bright like a sun,” also indicates that his dream is something positive that enables

him to have a good life. Hughes later writes that there are obstacles which block

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these obstacles; “wall,” “darkness,” “night,” and “shadow.” These four words

indicate something negative that holds him back from his dream leads him to have

uncertainty in his life. Hughes uses the sentence “I am black” is to emphasize the

racial discrimination that the persona receives, and makes him not free to do

anything.

Hughes also shows that black people have power to change this condition.

They cannot blame the situation; on the other hand, they should fight for their life.

He uses the words “my hands” and “my dark hands” to emphasize the belief in

their selves. Then he describes the persona has power to change their condition,

which is revealed through the diction: “shatter”, “smash,” and “break.”

From the diction that is used by Hughes, I can see that this poem is about a

black person who experiences racial discrimination. The theme is “black people

should use their own strength to overcome the obstacles in life in order to get

a better life.”

“The Negro Mother” is the second poem that I have analyzed. It is about a

black mother who tells about her hard life and experiences. Through her story, she

encourages the next generations to fight against slavery or racial discrimination

against the black people.

Hughes begins the poem by telling the persona’s condition. The persona is

a free black woman who was kidnapped from her native land and sold to become

a slave in another land. He emphasizes all the unfair treatments experienced by

the woman through the phrases such as “beaten and mistreated,” “children sold

away,” “no safety, no love, no respect.” Hughes uses the diction to describe the

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Despite her condition, the persona strongly believes she and the next

generations of her race are free people as in the words “through my children,

young and free” and “I was the seed of coming Free.” This belief encourages her

to fight and endure the unfair treatment, as can be seen from the diction such as

“trudging,” “keep on,” and “no stopping for me.” She encourages her own self

and the next generations not to give up as shown by the phrases “but march ever

forward,” and “breaking down bars.” She makes herself an example in her

fighting, as shown through the diction: “remember my years,” “heavy with

sorrow–,”“and make of those years a torch for tomorrow.”

Hughes shows to the readers that despite all her sufferings, she never

complains. She does all her works and she still can sing. Moreover, she still fights

for what she believes and encourages others. Hughes wants to raise the black

people’s awareness that if they believe in their dreams, they will be able to fight

the obstacles. The theme I can conclude from the second poem is “black people’s

long history of suffering should be an encouragement to fight for freedom

and have optimistic attitudes in their life.”

The last poem that I have analyzed is “Mother to Son.” The poem is about

a black mother who encourages her son not to give up easily when facing

obstacles in his life. This poem has a similar meaning to the second poem.

Hughes uses the word “stair” to symbolize the rough path of the persona’s

life. The phrase “no crystal stair”is to show the persona’s life is not as smooth as

other’s because there are “splinters,”“boards torn up,” and “places with no carpet

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emphasize the obstacles. The diction “bare” is also used to show that the persona

has nothing in her life in facing the obstacles.

Yet, he shows that despite the hard life, the persona still fights to keep on

living, which is represented by the diction “been a-climbin’ on,” “reachin’

landin’s,” and “turnin’ corners.” The phrase “but all the time” emphasizes how

persistent she is in fighting the obstacles in her life, in order to keep on living her

life.

The persona’s fighting is not for nothing; on the contrary, there is

something that she knows worth fighting for. Hughes does not mention what it is

that makes the persona fight, but we can conclude from the diction that she fights

to keep on living her life. Later, the persona encourages her son to fight like her

and not to give up: “I’se still goin’,”and I’se still climbin’.”

Hughes describes the spirit of a mother in facing her hard life. He

emphasizes how the persona encourages her son and others to keep fighting to

overcome the obstacles in life. The theme that I get from the diction used by

Hughes is “parents’ spirit can encourage young black people to fight and not

easily give up in spite of their hardship of life.”

From the three poems, I can see the similarity of the poems from the

diction used by Hughes. Besides, Hughes uses similar pattern in writing his

poems. He tells the condition and the obstacles that each persona faces; then, he

describes that in every poem, there is hope or dream or something that the persona

wants to achieve; and the last, Hughes describes how the persona keeps fighting

despite all the difficulties. The backgrounds of the poems are racial discrimination

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the hard life the persona faces are followed by the encouragement, hope, and

fighting spirit. Hughes shows that it is our own self that can help us fight to

overcome the obstacles.

I also conclude that although Hughes describes the racial discrimination,

he does not use his poems to attack white people or to spread animosity to them.

He wants to encourage and remind his fellow black people to do something in

order to make changes in their life, and that they have the power to change their

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary text:

“Poems of Langston Hughes”. PoemHunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

References:

“Banner.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Bare.” Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Break.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Climb.” Def. 2. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Crystal.” Def. 2. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Dark.” Def. 8. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“The Deep South.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005.}

Print.

“Diction.” Definition and Examples of Literary Terms, Literary Devices. N.p.

2014. Web.18 Oct. 2014.

“Discrimination.” Def 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005.}

Print.

“Dream.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Exclamation.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005.}

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“Facts About the Sun.” Telescope.org. University of Bradford, 2015. Web. 5 May

2016.

“Figures of Speech.” Meriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster

Online, 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.

“Harlem Renaissance.” History. A&E Television Networks, LLC, 2014. Web. 31

Aug. 2014.

“Langston Hughes.” PoemHunter.com. N.p., n. d. Web. 5 May 2016.

“The Literary Superpower Tool of Theme,” Read Write Think, n.d. Web. 18 Oct.

2014.

“Punctuation Marks: The Colon.” Writing Forward, N.p., 2016. Web. 5 May

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“Racism”. Anti-Defamation League. The Anti-Defamation League, 1913. Web. 31

Aug. 2014.

“Splinter.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Slowly.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Track.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Torch.” Def. 3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Trudge.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

“Valley.” Def. 1. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. 7th_{ed. 2005. Print.}

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Analysis of Theme of Langston HughesâPoems Through Diction.