The tone, or attitude, of Langston Hughes in his "Theme
for English B" is rather bemused and lightly ironic. After being instructed to write a
page that comes out of him that will be true, Hughes thinks, "I wonder if it's that
simple!" Of course, the greatest irony is in the poet's wonder if he can write a page
that his white instructor will understand, and yet he ends his poem with the assignment
completed: "This is my page for English B."
Despite his
bemusement, Hughes writes a page that is "true" as he bemusedly
reflects
I
guess being colored doesn't make me not
likethe same things other folks like who are other
races....Being me, it [the page] will not be
white,But it will be
a part
of you, instructor,You are
white--yet a part of me, as I am a part of
you,That's
American.
At this point, the
poem's tone turns to ironical regret since Hughes's poem was written in 1951, a time at
which racial discrimination peaked. Hughes points to this disparateness of his
instructor and himself:
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Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of
me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of
you.
But we are, that true!
As
I learn from you,
I guess you learn from
me---
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