I, too, sing America by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America
by Langston Hughes

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.

Title: A poem about patriotism and how he fights for his country America.

Paraphrase: I think this poem is talking about how black people were not treated equally as the white people. When he said “I am the darker brother” I think the author is mentioning that he is black. When they say “eat in the kitchen” it means that he is unequally treated because of his race. However, the author does not care about the discrimination and he just laughs. He says he will “eat well and grow strong” because he will just patiently wait until the day. The word “tomorrow” is used to have implication of tomorrow and “nobody’ll dare say to me” meaning he will not give up fighting and will not lose the fire in him: Later, there will be a day where black people and white people are treated equal. The last stanza talks about soon or later people will recognize how beautiful black people are and white people will be ashamed of what they have done to the black people.

Connotation: Point of view- 1st person because it uses the word “I.”
“I, too, am America” – repetition. It is used to emphasize that black people are American and that they will fight to gain what they want.
“Kitchen”- symbolism for less important location. It is used to talk about how black people were treated not the same as the host of the house, which is white people. Back then when black people were discriminated, women were too treated unequally: women worked in kitchen which gives the meaning that kitchen is less important place and it not good enough for male white people.
“Table” – symbolism to explain a place were other people will see. Table is considered more important then kitchen.
“Company” – I think company is meaning the other country. If other country or people come to the house, which can represent the country, they would not want to show the black people, which they were considered lower than black people.
“Tomorrow” – symbolism for the future. It talks about how later in future black people will be treated equally.
“Eat well, grow strong” – symbolism that represents the power. It means later, black people will be having strong position in society.
“Beauty” – symbolism that describes a scale of supremacy over other country or race.

Attitude – Even though the situation is not that cheerful or hopeful the author’s tone is very bright and hopeful. The writer is not thinking about the miserable present time but bright future.

Shifts – A line between “when the company comes” and “But I laugh” has a shift that change the voice to brighter tone.

Title – The title represents the strength of African-American to fight against the racism. Also the title suggests that even though he is discriminated why his own people, white people, he is still proud to be part of America.

Theme – This poem is about a black slave who is trying to be hopeful even when the situation is miserable. The black slave it fighting against the racism without losing a fire in him and determine to never give up the hope. This is related to our life because it gives us life lesson of never give up even when things are not the best.