"Dinner Guest Me"

Analytical Essay # 67161

African-American Studies > Civil Rights
English > Analysis
Literature > American
Literature > Poetry

"Dinner Guest Me"

Examines the popularization of human rights through this poem by Langston Hughes.

1,537 words () | 0 sources | 2006 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper provides a close reading of Langston Hughes's poem, "Dinner Guest: Me," specifically addressing how Hughes struggles with the popularization of the Civil Rights movement as pop culture rather than something profound. The poem describes the depreciation of African-American social activism and how Hughes himself becomes dehumanized becoming a popular symbol of the movement rather than a human being.

From the Paper:

"By placing the dinner party on Park Avenue, Hughes's constant symbol of upper-class luxury and foil to Harlem, he furthers the idea that these people are far away from the problems of lower class black society physically and mentally. However, because the speaker is also present on Park Avenue, he is physically distanced from the racial inequalities of lower class neighborhoods as well. Hughes concludes his poem with the statement that it is not so bad to be treated so well even if he is just treated as a personification of "The Negro Problem." "