Open Letter to the South

 

Introduction

 In the ‘Open Letter to the South,’ Langston Hughes decides to forget the past and speak on unifying whites and blacks. Even though throughout the USA history blacks have experienced inequality and systematic racism, Langston decides to bury the hatchet. In the poem, the writer insists on unifying the two races. Unity will make the two races powerful and enable the removal of systematic racism that has existed for years (Hughes np). In addition, unity will create equality among blacks and whites. The underlying reason for writing the poem was to bring to light humanity. The historical context within the poem brings out the cultural background of the entire situation. This essay will discuss alliteration, repetition and simile in the poem.

Repetition

 Repetition creates insistence and persistence which creates consistency in terms of message and relevance. The poet’s message is to bring unity among the blacks and whites. In order to capture the underlying reason of the poem, the poet applies repetition to reiterate his message into the reader’s conscious. One of the most prominent ways of using repetition is at the beginning or the opening of a poem or any literary work. For instance in line 14, 15 and 17, the poet makes use of repetition only for it to again line 58-61. At the beginning, ‘that the land might be ours, and the mines and the factories and the office towers’ (14, 15). Another instance where the poet makes use of repetition is in line 17,’ that the plants and the roads and the tools of power’ (line 17). Also, in the closing sections of the poem, the poet makes use of repetition to reinstate his message and remind the reader of the objective of the poem,’ take land, take factories, take office towers, take tools and banks and mines’ (line 58, 61). Repetition affects the reader’s ability to make a decision between unity equality. More so, the reader used this stylistic device to show how unity would make a difference in the lives of blacks and whites. Furthermore, the poet used repetitive words to show that the words are important than the rest of the words.

Alliteration

 Apart from repetition, alliteration appears in line 28 of the poem. In line 28, the‘s’ sound is constantly, repeated a number of times. For instance, ‘helpless, stupid, and scattered’. Alliteration captures perceptions, feelings and the present reality of the poem hence helps the poet push forward his quest for unity. The multiple use of alliteration in one particular line informs brings to attention those particular words hence strengthen the message and pushing the poet’s agenda further. In addition, in this particular poem, alliteration ensures links the theme of the poem to regulatory mechanisms so as to capture the core essence of the theme while regaining its relevance through various audience. Therefore, alliteration considers the main message of the poet and facilitates decision making within the confines of the writer’s ideology. In summary, alliteration builds up the main concepts of the poems and allows the reader to gain deeper understanding and even regain an analytic point of view of the poetry and the entire ideas revolving around unifying blacks and whites.

Simile

 The combination of alliteration and repetition generates poetic flow hence entertaining the reader. The, a reader tends to lean forward and finish the poem due to the effective use of the stylistic devices. Another stylistic device used in the poem is similes. The roles of similes in this particular poem is setting the tone and establishing the tone of the poet to the reader. After establishing a firm connection between the reader and the poet assists in creating a relatable situation. For instance, since the poet’s talking points are on unifying blacks and whites, the similes function to demonstrate the benefits of unity and the disadvantageous of failing to form a united front against injustice. Hence, similes perform three functions- uniting blacks and whites, changing the society and a call to action. In line 20, the poet writes, ‘separate as the fingers’. Hence, similes give the reader an image on the importance of unity among blacks and whites. This way, the reader easily passes his point across the audience and transcends age and limitations of levels of education. Thus, it is safe to say that the similes standardizes the message and gives the poet a chance to explore an illustrative aspect of unity. Therefore, the similes makes the poet interesting and easily understandable as the reader can easily indicate the connection made in the similes with the main message in the poem.

 In summary, the poem makes use of similes, alliteration and repetition to pass a message on the importance of unity. Repetition helps the poet generate cohesiveness and consistency from the opening to the finishing lines of the poem. Alliteration creates flow as a reader moves from one stanza to another thus the reader retains the message and meaning of the poem. Similes tend to make comparison and bring out the importance of the main theme within the poem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Works Cited 

Hughes, Langston. "Open Letter to the South.”." 2020