2. ABSTRACT
This paper is an analysis of African American
nationalism which is reflected in “I, Too” by
Langston Hughes. The focus of the discussion in
this paper is metaphor, symbols, discrimination,
and nationalism. The methods used to make this
paper is a textual and a close reading. Through the
analysis of intrinsic and extrinsic elements in this
paper, readers can understand about discrimination
and the African-American nationalism that
reflected in poetry “I, Too”.
Keywords: Figurative Language, metaphor,
symbols, discrimination, nationalism.
3. INTRODUCTION
“The true poem rests between the
words.”
— Vanna Bonta —
Poetry is one of genres in literature.
Laurence Perrine in “Sounds and
Sense: An Introduction to Poetry”
(1969:3) defines poetry as a kind of
language that says more and says it
more intensely than does ordinary
language. There is no an exact
definition of poetry, but poetry can be
understood by analyzing it.
Analyzing poetry itself is an activity
concerned with examining the words
and stanzas in poetry from the
perspective of images, obvious
meanings and implied meanings in
order to have a greater understanding
of the poetry itself.
4. Langston Hughes, whose full name was
James Mercer Langston Hughes, was born
in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. He was the
only son of James Nathaniel Hughes and
Carrie Mercer Langston. His parents
divorced when he was young and his
father moved to Mexico.
In 1914 he moved to Lincoln, Illinois, to
live with his mother and her new husband.
It was here that he started writing poetry
— he wrote his first poem in the eighth
grade. A year later the family relocated to
Cleveland, Ohio. Despite all the moving
around, Hughes was a good student and
excelled in his studies.
After high school, Hughes traveled in
Mexico, Europe, and Africa — sometimes
by working on freighters. By 1924 he had
settled in Harlem, New York, and was an
important figure during the Harlem
Renaissance. One of his favorite pastimes
was to sit in clubs and listen to the blues
as he wrote his poetry Until He died on
May 22, 1967, in New York, NY.
5. I, Too (1926)
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
6. LITERARY REVIEW
Figurative Language
A. Riley in his book, An Attempt to Develop the
Elements of Figurative Language, with A View to
Facilitate the Study of Poetical Criticism states that
Figurative language is a language that uses some
analogies between two subjects which are either
directly or by allusion transferred from one to the
other. (1827:1)
Metaphor
The quality of a poem can be greatly influenced by
the quality of its metaphors. Laurence Perrine in
Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry
(1969:65) states that in metaphor the comparison is
implied – that is, the figurative term is substituted
for or identified with the literal term. Walton
Beacham on his book, The Meaning of Poetry
(1994:102), states that the object in the metaphor
which is of initial importance is called the tenor; the
element which reflects or illustrates the tenor is
called the vehicle. As an example the poetry of
“Spring” by Robert Burns:
“O my Luve is like a red, red rose”
The poet is attributing the qualities of the rose to his
love, and so the rose becomes the vehicle reflecting
on his lover, who is the tenor in the metaphor.
7. DISCUSSION
The History of The Poem
This poem tell the history of United States through
the lens of the African-American experience. It
embodies that history at a particular point in the
early 20th century when Jim Crow laws throughout
the South enforced racial segregation; and argues
against those who would deny that importance—
and that presence.
“They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,”
Hughes powerfully speaks for the second-class,
those excluded. The full-throated drama of the
poem portrays African-Americans moving from out
of sight, eating in the kitchen, and taking their
place at the dining room table co-equal with the
“company” that is dining. Intriguingly, Langston
doesn’t amplify on who owns the kitchen. The
house, of course, is the United States and the
owners of the house and the kitchen are never
specified or seen because they cannot be
embodied. Hughes’ sly wink is to the African-
Americans who worked in the plantation houses as
slaves and servants. He honors those who lived
below stairs or in the cabins. Even excluded, the
presence of African-Americans was made palpable
by the smooth running of the house, the
appearance of meals on the table, and the
continuity of material life
8. Figurative Languange
The most dominant parts of
figurative language in the poetry by
Langston Hughes., I, Too, are
metaphor and Symbols.
Metaphor
“I am the darker brother.”
Langston use term of darker brother
as metaphor to represent that the
speaker is a member of a family in
this case a brother, brother is a
member of family that no one no
matter how hate or despise could get
away as they will exist in someone
life. This stanza could also mean that
he/she is no matter how different
their skin color are still human same
as them.
9. Symbols
“I, too, sing America.”
This poem begin with a powerful
statement that the speaker also sing
America, sing in this case could be
mean that the speaker speak with the
song as music traditionally used as
lamentation for their fate as slave
there are almost nothing to do and
music is only outlet for their stress. In
the other hand I, too, sing America
could also mean that they are equal
with their master as they too can sing
the national anthem with the same
language as them which show that
they are equally as capable as their
master to converse, read, learning,
etc.
10. Extrinsic Explanation of Poem
Racial discrimination has been happened
around the world, on the top of that the big
country like America have racial
discrimination once in the society of
American. Racial discrimination could be
happened with religion, racial or gender and
it could be happened everywhere. Racial
discrimination in America happened
between “the white” and “the black”. The
black is African who live in America, white
man in America call them with humiliate
name, such as “Negro”, Black American”,
“Afro-America”, and “Nigga”. According to
Irwin Unger in “These United States: The
Question of Our Past” (1989: 38) Black
American come to the “New World” as slave
firstly reach English mainland colonies in
1619 when a Dutch vessel unexpectedly put
in at Jamestown with a cargo of twenty
Africans.
Black American have different threated with
the White American, not only by the society
but also the government. Discrimination
which the Black American get is happened in
many way such as, education, employment
and a residence for the Black American.
Langston Hughes from this poem wants to
tell how tough the Black American deal with
racial discrimination.
11. “I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen”
From the line above, Hughes uses “brother”
to describe that Black American is same with
another American because they America but,
in the third line we could know that Black
American had been threat differently from
the White American in every living aspect.
“But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.”
Langston Hughes from “But I laugh, And eat
well” want to describe the Black American
could endure all the racial discrimination that
given to them by White American. Then, in
the seventh line the words “And grow
strong” give us a picture that the Black
American become stronger and have spirit to
defend their right for the equality in America.
This is proven from A More Perfect Union:
Document in US Histroy by Paul Boller, Jr.
and Ronald Story (1988: 274) that in 1968
when Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown
talk protest abour racist police in Columbia
University.
12. “Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be Ashamed----“
In the fourth stanza, Hughes want to
show us their struggle would be
succeed and the world will see them as
an American not a Black American or
Negro. Then, the world “They’ll see
how beautiful I am” to show us that
Black American are kind persons and
they have an unique sense of art like
they create Jazz and Blues genre for
music. Paul Boller, Jr. and Ronald Story
in A More Perfect Union: Document in
US History (1988: 276) said that the
Black American used Jazz and Blues as
a critics for the discrimination and the
results is very good, not only Black
American but also White American
joint their struggle for their equality.
Then, the Black Nationalism was
grown among the American
13. CONCLUSION
From the poetry “I, Too”, we can
know that Langston Hughes have a
high level patriotism and nationalism
as American even though he
understand the depth American
atrocity that happen to African
American. This poem also show us
that he have a brighter view of the
future that Africa-American will
stand equally with white society of
America. These poem truly show
how bright the future is with
education, experience, and strong
will mankind no matter the race can
achieve greatness.
“I swear to the Lord,I still can't
see,Why Democracy
means,Everybody but me.”
— Langston Hughes —
14. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jr., Paul Boller. 1988. A More Perfect Union. Houghton
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Guilford: The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc..
Perrine, Laurence. 1969. 3th ed. Sound and Sense: An
Introduction to Poetry. United States of America:
Harcourt College Pub.
Unger, Irwin 1989. These United States: the questions of
our past, Volume 1: to 1877. Englewood Cliffs, New
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Riley, A.. 1827. An Attempt to Develop The Elements of
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B. Whitaker
Foner, Eric, and Olivia Mahney. 1990. A House
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Beacham, Walton. 1974. The Meaning of Poetry: A
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National Research Council (NRC). 2004. Measuring
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Academies Press.
Gellner, Ernest. 1983. Nations and Nationalism. New
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