Poem Post: I, Too

I, Too

By Langston Hughes

1926

 

I, too, sing America.

 

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

 

Tomorrow,

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,  

Then.

 

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed—

 

I, too, am America

The poem I, Too is a poem about an African American who is not welcomed by white people. This poem relates to the novel To Kill a Mockingbird because the concept of both pieces of work are about racism, equality, and courage. The narrator in the poem talks about white people discriminating him by not letting him eat at the table with them because he is a colored man but he then turns it around stating that he doesn’t let that affect him, that it helps him grow strong, and that he will sit with them tomorrow and that nobody will make him leave. This is an act of courage on his part because he had the strength to stand up for himself. Courage is a huge theme in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

-Aden Casarez

Song Post: The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

By: Bob Dylan

(Lyrics)

William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger
At a Baltimore hotel society gathering
And the cops were called in and his weapon took from him
As they rode him in custody down to the station
And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face
Now ain’t the time for your tears

William Zanzinger, who at twenty-four years
Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres
With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him
And high office relations in the politics of Maryland
Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders
And swear words and sneering, and his tongue it was snarling
In a matter of minutes, on bail was out walking
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize fears
Take the rag away from your face
Now ain’t the time for your tears

Hattie Carroll was a maid in the kitchen
She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children
Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage
And never sat once at the head of the table
And didn’t even talk to the people at the table
Who just cleaned up all the food from the table
And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level
Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane
That sailed through the air and came down through the room
Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle
And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger
And you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Take the rag away from your face
Now ain’t the time for your tears

In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all’s equal and that the courts are on the level
And that the strings in the books ain’t pulled and persuaded
And that even the nobles get properly handled
Once that the cops have chased after and caught ’em
And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom
Stared at the person who killed for no reason
Who just happened to be feelin’ that way without warnin’
And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished
And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance
William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence
Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now’s the time for your tears

 

This song is about a wealthy white man named William Zanzinger who killed an African American maid named Hattie Carroll for no reason. Although the two were never associated, Zanzinger murdered Carroll without any remorse or regret. However, there was still hope until the trial. The courtroom is the only place on earth where everyone is completely equal, no matter what lifestyle, race, income, or privileges you have. However, when William Zanzinger was only charged with a six-month sentence for first-degree murder, even the courtroom became a place of segregation and racism. Hattie Carroll lost her life, and her ten children lost one of the most important figures in their life, their mother. William Zanzinger lost only half a year of his life.

This relates to the novel because it is another example of racism and prejudice in the courtroom. We are all equal in court, and these are two cases in which we were different. William Zanzinger murdered Hattie Carroll but only had to serve six months because he was a white man, and she was a black woman. In Tom Robinson’s trial, all evidence strongly pointed at him being not guilty. The evidence agreed with Tom Robinson’s story but it had many faults in Bob and Mayella Ewell’s’ testimonies. However, Tom Robinson was convicted guilty because he was not seen as equal to Bob Ewell in the eyes of the all-white jury. He was convicted guilty of a crime he didn’t commit because it was his word against a white man and woman.

Mandy Tran

 

Poem Post: Strange Fruit

The poem Strange Fruit written by Abel Meeropol and performed by Billie Holiday is about an African American who has been lynched and is now hanging from a tree waiting for nature to take its toll.

This poem relates both plot wise and thematically to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird because the events and message of the both works are parallel. In the poem a black person is lynched by a group of white men which is the same thing that almost happens to Tom had it not been for the efforts of Atticus.

The two works demonstrate the same theme of racism. Tom faces racism in a place where it shouldn’t be: the courtroom. He is given injustice and sent to jail for a crime he didn’t commit where he is then shot to death upon trying to escape. In the poem an innocent person is killed by a racist mob. Both works show the dangers of racism and prejudice in the South and how it affects the lives of innocent people.

Poem/Song Post: “On Turning Ten”

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I’m coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light–
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring, chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say goodbye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.

This poem is about a boy turning 10 and looking back at his life. He thinks his whole childhood is over and that he can’t have fun anymore. He misses all the good times he had when he was a child and he thinks those times are gone. He is losing his innocence and gaining more knowledge about life.

This poem relates to To Kill a Mockingbird because Jem and Scout are also growing up. Even though Scout doesn’t want him to, Jem is becoming more independent. He doesn’t want to hang out with her anymore and wants more time alone. He begins to do more “adult like” things, and Scout doesn’t like it very much. Also, Calpurnia starts calling Jem,
“Mister Jem.”

Scout is also growing up, whether she likes it or not. That is why Aunt Alexandra came to stay with them. She wanted Scout to continue growing up with a “mother figure” in the house. Scout is also loosing her innocence. She is learning more about the world, people and even her father. With the whole case about Tom Robinson, she gets thrust into an environment where people have opinions of her based on her father, and she can’t even understand the crime. In conclusion, this poem about growing up, relates to To Kill a Mockingbird, because just like the boy, Scout and Jem are growing up and losing their innocence.