The selection is an example of a prose poem and deals with racial prejudice, survival, faith in oneself and the beauty of unity.
Sargeant as the character reflects the experiences of Langston Hughes himself as an individual who came to a place wherein the residents were different from him in regard to color and convictions and symbolically represents Christ as he undergoes sufferings similar to what the latter had experienced. Sargeant experiences prejudice as represented by the snow overcoming the night and by the closing of the church door before him at the time that he badly needs a place to stay and sleep at as indicated by this line “I know it’s a white folk’s church, but I got to sleep somewhere (Hughes 2).
Sargeant suffers the way Christ did in a sense that, he is oppressed and is made to carry a heavy load of rejection just like what Christ had undergone. The way he is treated by people around him reflects how Christ was treated when he was grieving in agony while carrying his cross. The character speaks to Christ, a representation of God, in the poem in the same way that Christ in his time spoke to his Father. Christ as he was dying asked God’s forgiveness of men who had nailed him on the cross, a scene that showed Christ’s great faith in and obedience to his Father. On the other hand, Sargeant forcefully opens the church door instead of asking Christ’s help to do it for him. In this scene, Sargeant reflects faith in himself rather than in God. The exact opposite of Christ’s character yet still exhibits Sargeant as a metaphor for Christ since what the former does brings the crashing down of the church which symbolically portrays the unnailing of Christ from the cross and the breaking of the seal of prejudice among whites and blacks.
Snow and night were artfully presented as symbolisms for white and black people who at the time of Langston Hughes go against one another. At the very beginning of the poem, Hughes starts with the falling of the snow which overcomes the night. Snow brings discomfort and trouble to the character, “But he must have felt it seeping down his neck, cold, wet, sopping in his shoes” (Winter 745), as he is trying to seek comfort. The biting cold being caused by the snow depicts the immeasurable pain inflicted upon the blacks by the white men as they are deprived to express themselves and do what the whites can. Night symbolizes the black race which asserts itself despite the harsh rushing of the snow flakes.
The door symbolizes discrimination considering that it is of the white people’s church and because it is always kept closed before Sargeant. Intolerance of Sargeant exemplifies intolerance of Hughes who belonged to the black race in real life. Sargeant’s breaking of the door signifies the black’s resistance to discrimination and their struggle to overcome it.
As a whole, the poem wants the reader to realize that racial prejudice prevails in America particularly in Hughes time and that it does not do any good to the victim. Sufferings of a person being oppressed are clearly illustrated through the character, Sargeant. Further, the author makes the readers see that a person will only be overcome by prejudice if he allows it. Sargeant breaks the door that represents it and that draws the picture of a man fighting against discrimination. And as he does it, a help from anybody is not asked even God’s. This is an act which shows how faith in oneself works. Hughes implies that for a man to survive in a troubling situation, he must do something to make himself get out of it. Above all, the author’s desire for unity among blacks and whites surfaces in the selection and this is evident in the following part, “Sargeant didn’t see the snow, not under the bright lights of the main street, falling white and flaky against the night” (Winter 745). Here, the sight of snowflakes falling against the dark night is given a striking description by the author which can be perceived as his longing to see a harmonious relationship between the opposing races. Sargeant’s inability to see the scene suggests people’s failure to notice the importance of unity and the benefit that it may bring should the races unite. Hughes did not just give his readers an excellent poem but was able to let them realize values and convictions which are usually invisible to the naked eye.
“Analysis of Langston Hughes ‘On the Road’” 123 HelpMe.com 27 Feb. 2011 http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=168767.
Walker, Carolyn P. Black American Literature Forum. Vol.25 Number 4 (Winter 1991)
No comments:
Post a Comment