Dinner Guest: Me Poetry Analysis
The persona in this poem is an African American person. This is illustrated in the first two verses of the poem where the speaker says that he or she, being a metaphor for the African American race, is the Negro Problem. The reader knows that he is referring to himself because he speaks in first person.
Dinner Guest: Me by Langston Hughes has a variety of different tones. One of the tones of the persona is anger. This is shown in the first two verses of the poem, “I know I am the Negro Problem,” and in the last two verses, “Solutions to the Problem, Of course, wait.” The speaker acknowledges the fact that himself along with the African American race are the Negro Problem that is present among the conversation of the white people at the dinner table. The anger derives from the fact that the speaker has become the Negro Problem because of his success being an African American and the success of his African American brothers and sisters. In the last verses the speaker shows the anxiety towards the solution to this problem and knows only that in time, the problem will hopefully be solved. Another tone of the persona is serious. The overall theme, being the demanding of freedom, gives off a serious tone because the subject of racism and segregation in itself is a serious topics and was a problem that had to be faced by the African Americans during the 1960’s when the poem was written. This subject matter has been and currently is being taken seriously. The persona also portrays a secretive tone. This is seen in verses four through nine of the poem, “Answering the usual questions that come to white mind which seeks demurely to probe in polite way the why and wherewithal of darkness U.S.A.” In this quote the reader observes that in a secretive manner, the white people are trying to sound polite and kind while questioning the black race and their success when in reality they are doing it out of arrogance and unacceptance. Darkness U.S.A symbolizes the corruptness of
Dinner Guest: Me by Langston Hughes has a variety of different tones. One of the tones of the persona is anger. This is shown in the first two verses of the poem, “I know I am the Negro Problem,” and in the last two verses, “Solutions to the Problem, Of course, wait.” The speaker acknowledges the fact that himself along with the African American race are the Negro Problem that is present among the conversation of the white people at the dinner table. The anger derives from the fact that the speaker has become the Negro Problem because of his success being an African American and the success of his African American brothers and sisters. In the last verses the speaker shows the anxiety towards the solution to this problem and knows only that in time, the problem will hopefully be solved. Another tone of the persona is serious. The overall theme, being the demanding of freedom, gives off a serious tone because the subject of racism and segregation in itself is a serious topics and was a problem that had to be faced by the African Americans during the 1960’s when the poem was written. This subject matter has been and currently is being taken seriously. The persona also portrays a secretive tone. This is seen in verses four through nine of the poem, “Answering the usual questions that come to white mind which seeks demurely to probe in polite way the why and wherewithal of darkness U.S.A.” In this quote the reader observes that in a secretive manner, the white people are trying to sound polite and kind while questioning the black race and their success when in reality they are doing it out of arrogance and unacceptance. Darkness U.S.A symbolizes the corruptness of