“I'm colored, and being around white folks makes me feel more colored-since most of them shun Negroes.”Ĭountless exchanges between Simple and his companion offer wit and wisdom that remind contemporary readers why Langston Hughes is so special. Langston Hughes, 'Dreams' from The Collected Works of Langston Hughes. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow. “You imply that there is no fun to be had around white folks.” Dreams By Langston Hughes Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Both exist in a world within a world, in Harlem, the separate black community of New York City.

Remaining within the Afrocentric world that was his chosen sphere, Hughes makes clear the message that Simple and Boyd are very much alike both are black men in a racially unbalanced society.

Langston Hughes, Brian Pinkney (Illustrator), Lee Bennett Hopkins (Introduction) 4.35 avg rating 1,318 ratings published 1932 35 editions. Their conversations permit Simple to speak the wisdom of the working class.īy the time the first book of Simple stories was published, Hughes had honed and polished these two characters, enhancing the distinctions between the vernacular language of Simple and the more educated diction of his friend. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. Simple's bar buddy and foil in the stories is the better-educated, more articulate Boyd, who has never lived in the South. Simple had migrated to Harlem, like many other blacks, seeking to escape the racism of the South, and he celebrated his new freedoms despite the economic struggles he still confronted. Simple soon became Harlem's Everyman-an ordinary black workingman, representative of the masses of black folks in the 1940s. Almost immediately, the “Simple stories,” as they were routinely called, had a large and ever-increasing audience. Semple first sprang to life in Langston Hughes's weekly Chicago Defender column in 1943.

The collected works of langston hughes