📝 ᵃᶰᵃˡʸѕᶤѕ
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Hughes's poem "
Oppression" is written in a style that might be said to be conversational, but it is the poet speaking through the poem, not a character. The point of view might be considered "first person." The point of view can most closely be described as political and socially conscious. The value-oriented point of view expressed in the poem may be called also a politically minded point of view.
💭The poem, "Oppression," epitomizes "the gentle but insistent protest that runs through Hughes’s poems" (eNotes) and this stands as a good summation of the poem's point of view.
💭The point of view in this poem is difficult to describe as we might describe the point of view of a work of fiction. There are no characters and so no way to determine the narrator's relationship to the characters and the story being told.
💭As it is, there is no "story" presented in the poem -- no narrative. Instead, the poem consists of two statements. The result is that we can describe the value-oriented point of view of the poet but not necessarily the literary point of view.
💭The first statement made in the poem concerns a negative, current situation.
Now dreams
Are not available
To the dreamers,
Nor songs
To the singers.
The effect of oppression is implicitly contrary...
💭The poem confronts the suppression of creativity and expression under oppressive regimes. Dreams and songs, symbols of imagination and freedom, are denied to those who would create them. The imagery of darkness and steel conveys the harshness of this oppression.
💭Despite the despair, the poem offers a glimmer of hope. The dream and song, like the human spirit, will endure and eventually break free from their chains. This resilience echoes Langston Hughes's other works, which often addressed the struggles and triumphs of marginalized communities.
💭Compared to the modernist and experimental styles prevalent at the time, this poem's simplicity and directness convey a sense of urgency and immediacy, reflecting the pressing need to speak out against oppression.
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