Compare and Contrast I Hear America Singing and I, Too Free Essay Example, 1000 words

This can be almost attributed to a communist type of thought where everyone is a member of the overall big picture. It is a well known fact that Whitman embraced the idea of preserving and celebrating humanity, and thus it makes sense for some of his work to reflect a lot of this ideology. Whitman is obviously displaying an empathetic view point towards the working man and woman which as a unit, compose America as he knew it. The poet Langston Hughes reflects a response to Whitman’s poem with his won entitled I, Too. There is no doubt that Hughes intended to get his point across to his readers by catching them in the first line of the first stanza, â€Å"I, too sing America†(Hughes, 1). This line is a response to Whitman’s first line of I Hear America Sing which reads, â€Å"I hear America sing†(Whitman, 1). The next line of Hughes’ piece declares, â€Å"I am the darker brother†(Hughes, 2). With this line, Hughes reminds his readers that an observation of America as a whole, will reveal that there is a sense of forgotten culture or ethnicity which is comprised of African Americans. We will write a custom essay sample on Compare and Contrast I Hear America Singing and I, Too or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now In other words, Hughes grabs his readers’ attention by pointing out that perhaps the first image one may conjure when they think of America, is one void of any blacks. This is also a reminder that America is not America without the cultural diversity which at that time, was not celebrated in any way. With even more breadth, Hughes continues his poem by explaining that he is directed to eat in the kitchen, when guests are present at his employers’ home. Hughes goes on to almost mock the ignorance of racism and segregation by declaring that he will not only eat in the kitchen, but he will do so and enjoy his meal while supplying strength to his body, â€Å"They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. †(Hughes, 3-7). Whitman’s piece however, simply enters in to the listing of various occupations held by the American working person. Whitman does not discuss color or ethnicity, but he discusses the entirety of the working population. Whitman lived during the 1800s and therefore saw slavery as well as the lean availability of job positions for African Americans. Had he intended to mention African Americans along with the overall working class, he would have had to have done so by discussing the few job positi ons of a select few African Americans. This obviously has created a sense of exclusion, which is most likely the motive for Hughes’ poem which essentially responds to Whitman’s.