The Quest of Identity and Equality in the Poems of Langston Hughes

Abstract

This paper exhibits the impacts of colonization in Langston Hughes's poems.  Most of his poems depict the contemporary life of the natives during the colonial period.  The colonized people suppressed the natives in the name of color and skin, which is their own identity.  This kind of disparity results in a pessimistic attitude among natives and also, they feel that they are inferior.  This shows clearly that the colonizers subjugate the natives not physically but psychologically.  Their color discrimination brings inner struggle and anguish of living.  The natives feel that they are living as an alien on their own motherland.  Langston Hughes realized the importance of their own identity and make his own clan feel proud of their color and skin through the usage of words in his poems.  The poet himself self-motivated and motivate his own people through his poems.