Minstrel Man, Langston Hughes

In Langston Hughes’ Minstrel Man he talks about how because his actions are nonchalant it does not mean that he is not in pain. He is basically trying to convey the message that just because people do not show their true feelings in public it does not mean that they are okay. People are always trying to put up a façade in order to not show any weakness when things are going wrong. People are scared of showing any kind of emotion that might symbolize weakness in their appearance. Hughes uses short lines in order to convey his message, by using this strategy he is effectively portraying what he wants heard, in a clear concise manner. In order to further prove his message, Hughes also uses repetition of the phrase “because my mouth/Is wide with laughter,” to start each stanza in his two stanza poem. Hughes expertly proves how poetry is an economy of words, since he is great at using few words and a short poem to portray his message.
This poem greatly relates to present day because of how much people are putting up a fake portrayal of themselves every single day. Nowadays it seems like people are scared of just being them, and would rather hide their true selves in order to fit in with the rest of the crowd. In reality this is ridiculous people should be comfortable being themselves. It makes no sense when people try to be fake about their personalities, because if everyone tried to fit in, then what would be the point of even conversing with other people if everyone thought the same way. If people put up a fake front might be because they might be miserable inside, and no one would ever find out. This is also seen in society when people seem happy and okay, but are secretly cutting or hurting themselves. Although this is radical, people should just try to be themselves and stay true to whom they are. That is what makes things interesting, different, and classrooms useful.