To Show African- American’s Struggle
depicts racism of African-American at that time. People do not want to befriend with African-Americans because they are black, and they come from a low social
status. The writer figures out two syntactic deviations in this poem, which are
multiple negations and adjectival phrase displacements. The multiple negations can be seen in the sentence Wont be nobodys bride; Wont meet nobody; Cause I
aint got no friend; and Aint nothin for a ruined gal. The multiple negations are used to show the unfair treatments from the society towards African-Americans.
On the other hand, the adjectival phrase displacement can be seen in the sentence Damn ma black old mammys soul for ever havin a daughter. Hughes uses these
syntactic deviations to show how mean racism is and also how it affects someone‟s life.
The third poem is entitled “Black Gal”. The poem narrates the persona as a
girl who always does not get what she deserves. She always treats her friends fine but they do not care because she is black. The poem can be read in datum
209SD01. The persona is a working girl who is always kind to her boyfriend. However, she is always mistreated. Her boyfriend takes advantage from her, and
leaves her right after. She realizes that she is treated like that because of her race. However, she really loves Albert, her boyfriend, and she wants him back.
The writer only figures out multiple negations in this poem. It can be seen in the sentence Aint cut him wid no razor; Aint never been unkind; and Yet I aint
never been no bad one. The multiple negations are used to show how the persona
treats her boyfriend. Hughes wants to emphasize the kindness of an African- American girl, yet she is still mistreated.
The fourth poem is entitled “Florida Road Workers”. It tells about the
exploitation of African-American by White Americans in the industry of road building in Florida. The poem can be read in datum 30SD02. This poem tells
about a road worker who has built a road but he is not appreciated. The social status makes him neglected. He is employed to build roads but he still lives under
poverty. He can only see rich people traveling on the road he made. The writer only figures out multiple negations in this poem. It can be seen
in the sentence I aint never seen nobody ride so fine before. This sentence implies that the persona can only see the result of his hard-working. He sees that people
can feel the benefit of his hardwork. Hughes wants to emphasize the racism that sent African-American into a low social status.
The last poem is entitled “August 19
th ”
. This is a poem about a boy named Clarence Noris who is given a capital punishment by the government on 19
th
August. This poem is made to commemorate him. The poem can be read in datum 81SD02. The poem really describes the situation of Clarence Noris before he
was sentenced to death. He was upset when he saw the young men could not voice their aspiration. He described the time before he was hung up with the
lyncher’s rope. He saw how the oppressors had no pity towards him. Before his death, he
still wished that after his death, the Black and White would unite to form a new world.
In this poem the writer figures out three syntactic deviations which are subject displacement, inversion and prepositional phrase displacement. The
subject displacement can be seen in the sentence Bitter was the day. Here, Hughes wants to emphasize the day in the persona‟s life when he has to live under the
racism. The inversion can be seen in the sentence And only in the sorrow songs relief was found. This sentence implies that the persona can only feel relief when
he listens to the sorrowful songs. He can find the same pain through the song; he knows that he is not the only one whose life is painful. The prepositional phrase
displacement can be seen in the sentence In many mouths — dark mouths where
red tongues burn and white teeth gleam — New words are formed. This sentence
shows that African-American can be the revolutionist; the new aspiration is formed through the African-
American‟s mouth. Overall, the writer figures out more multiple negations used by Langston
Hughes to depict racism in America. Hughes writes several conditions of African- American people who live with the pain of racism. He emphasizes the conditions
using the multiple negations in several poems that belong to this function.