Holli A. Ramsey Ramsey1
Lit 345
February 24, 1997
Langston Hughes is represented in Black Voices
by the Tales of Simple. Hughes
first presents
his character Jessie B. Semple in the Forward: Who is Simple? In this tale
the reader is given
its first look at the character Jessie B. Semple who is a black man that
represents almost
the "anybody or everybody" of black society. Semple is a man who
needs to drink,
to num the pain of living life.
"Usually over a glass of beer, he tells me his
tales... with a
pain in his soul... sometimes as the old blues says... Simple might be
laughing to keep
from crying" ( 98, 99 ).
Jessie B. Semple, also known as Simple, has
just the right combination of qualities
to be Black
America's new spokesman and unsung hero.
Semple seems to possess just
enough urban
humor and cynicism, down-home simplicity, naivete, and "boy-next-door
innocence"
that Semple easily becomes a character that hard-working, average, everyday
people can relate
to. He quickly becomes this sort of
Black Everyman whose bunions hurt
all the time and
whose thoughts are relatively quite simple, yet he is a man who rises
above these facts
and has a perception that shows the man to have great wisdom and
incredible
insight. And although he maintains a
seriousness for all his wisdom to come
through; his
presentation of the facts is given in a humorous manner. In Bop, "That's why
so many white
folks do not get their heads beat just for being white. But me --- a cop is
liable to grab me
almost anytime and beat my head- just for being colored " (105). This
side to Semple
is an example of Hughes attempt to give
simple facts or actual truth but
instead of
telling these things harshly and angrily he tries to sweeten them with a little
sarcastic humor.
At times, Simple is full of pain. "I have
had so many hardships in this life," said
Simple,
"that it is a wonder I'll live until I die" (105). This comment by Semple is one of
Ramsey
2
many that help
portray him as a simple man who has been both mentally and physically
broken-down by
society but who in Census also says
that, in spite of all the hardships he
has experienced,
he is still here.
Hughes, by using Semple, shows his discontent
of the black man's world, yet in
showing these
feelings Hughes never portrays himself to be angry, overcome by fear, or
overwhelmed by
racial paranoia. During these desperate
and hard years (post-war years),
Semple who is
from the urban ghetto is himself free of the problems that plague many
ghetto dwellers
during this time. Semple is a man who
avoids the inhibititions of welfare,
crime, and drugs
which is something that many of his neighbors do not do, yet in no way
is Semple ever
shown to possess the intelligence of a genius, not even for his seemingly
flawless
character. Hughes' character is a simple
man who is never shown to have
complete misery
while at the same time he also never has the greatest life either. Rather, he
symbolizes an
innocent comical view of both black and white America, which is the basis
of Hughes'
perspective of the Black man's existence.
During Hughes' career as a man of great
literature, Hughes wrote of a life of
frustrations and
dreams deferred and of being a minstrel man who laughs to hide his pain,
but what is seen
through Hughes' character Jessie B. Semple is Hughes' approach at a
comical
view. Through his character, Semple,
Hughes shows that even with the
complexities of
modern urban living that simplicity will prevail with simple men who
provide simple
truths backed by simple answers. For
this reason the Simple stories were
written for his
own people because until this time most of Hughes' work had been written
for the white
readers of the time. However, with his
new character Jessie B. Semple,
Hughes returned
to his own people rather than reaching out to the white readers as he had
been doing
before.
In conclusion, his character held the manners,
talk, and dreams that were in reality
the major
concerns of Hughes' imagination. For
Hughes the ghetto was more than a place
Ramsey
3
to live and write rather it was a place that held his
interest with all that it had to offer:
from the people
that lived there to the individual personality that the place held for itself.
Regardless of
what was thought to intrans Hughes into dwelling in such a place, he was
not consumed by
merely its name alone ( Harlem) moreover it was the people and
atmosphere that
most struck Hughes and pulled him into this place. Here he became a
voice that spoke
what many saw, yet they failed to speak because of the racial tensions of
the time. Overall then, his character Jessie B. Semple
was merely an extension of a voice
for all those who
failed to speak up when they most needed to but couldn't afford to
because of the
times.
Ramsey
4
Works Cited
Chapman, Abraham.
Black Voices: An Anthology of Afro-American Literature, Signet,
New York, 1968
Holli A. Ramsey Ramsey1
Lit 345
February 24, 1997
Langston Hughes is represented in Black Voices
by the Tales of Simple. Hughes
first presents
his character Jessie B. Semple in the Forward: Who is Simple? In this tale
the reader is
given its first look at the character Jessie B. Semple who is a black man that
represents almost
the "anybody or everybody" of black society. Semple is a man who
needs to drink,
to num the pain of living life.
"Usually over a glass of beer, he tells me his
tales... with a
pain in his soul... sometimes as the old blues says... Simple might be
laughing to keep
from crying" ( 98, 99 ).
Jessie B. Semple, also known as Simple, has
just the right combination of qualities
to be Black
America's new spokesman and unsung hero.
Semple seems to possess just
enough urban
humor and cynicism, down-home simplicity, naivete, and "boy-next-door
innocence"
that Semple easily becomes a character that hard-working, average, everyday
people can relate
to. He quickly becomes this sort of
Black Everyman whose bunions hurt
all the time and
whose thoughts are relatively quite simple, yet he is a man who rises
above these facts
and has a perception that shows the man to have great wisdom and
incredible
insight. And although he maintains a
seriousness for all his wisdom to come
through; his
presentation of the facts is given in a humorous manner. In Bop, "That's why
so many white
folks do not get their heads beat just for being white. But me --- a cop is
liable to grab me
almost anytime and beat my head- just for being colored " (105). This
side to Semple
is an example of Hughes attempt to give
simple facts or actual truth but
instead of
telling these things harshly and angrily he tries to sweeten them with a little
sarcastic humor.
At times, Simple is full of pain. "I have
had so many hardships in this life," said
Simple,
"that it is a wonder I'll live until I die" (105). This comment by Semple is one of
Ramsey
2
many that help
portray him as a simple man who has been both mentally and physically
broken-down by
society but who in Census also says
that, in spite of all the hardships he
has experienced,
he is still here.
Hughes, by using Semple, shows his discontent
of the black man's world, yet in
showing these
feelings Hughes never portrays himself to be angry, overcome by fear, or
overwhelmed by
racial paranoia. During these desperate
and hard years (post-war years),
Semple who is
from the urban ghetto is himself free of the problems that plague many
ghetto dwellers
during this time. Semple is a man who
avoids the inhibititions of welfare,
crime, and drugs
which is something that many of his neighbors do not do, yet in no way
is Semple ever
shown to possess the intelligence of a genius, not even for his seemingly
flawless
character. Hughes' character is a simple
man who is never shown to have
complete misery while
at the same time he also never has the greatest life either. Rather, he
symbolizes an
innocent comical view of both black and white America, which is the basis
of Hughes'
perspective of the Black man's existence.
During Hughes' career as a man of great
literature, Hughes wrote of a life of
frustrations and
dreams deferred and of being a minstrel man who laughs to hide his pain,
but what is seen
through Hughes' character Jessie B. Semple is Hughes' approach at a
comical
view. Through his character, Semple,
Hughes shows that even with the
complexities of
modern urban living that simplicity will prevail with simple men who
provide simple
truths backed by simple answers. For
this reason the Simple stories were
written for his
own people because until this time most of Hughes' work had been written
for the white
readers of the time. However, with his
new character Jessie B. Semple,
Hughes returned
to his own people rather than reaching out to the white readers as he had
been doing
before.
In conclusion, his character held the manners,
talk, and dreams that were in reality
the major
concerns of Hughes' imagination. For
Hughes the ghetto was more than a place
Ramsey
3
to live and write rather it was a place that held his
interest with all that it had to offer:
from the people
that lived there to the individual personality that the place held for itself.
Regardless of
what was thought to intrans Hughes into dwelling in such a place, he was
not consumed by
merely its name alone ( Harlem) moreover it was the people and
atmosphere that
most struck Hughes and pulled him into this place. Here he became a
voice that spoke
what many saw, yet they failed to speak because of the racial tensions of
the time. Overall then, his character Jessie B. Semple
was merely an extension of a voice
for all those who
failed to speak up when they most needed to but couldn't afford to
because of the
times.
Ramsey
4
Works Cited
Chapman, Abraham.
Black Voices: An Anthology of Afro-American Literature, Signet,
New York, 1968
Holli A. Ramsey Ramsey1
Lit 345
February 24, 1997
Langston Hughes is represented in Black Voices
by the Tales of Simple. Hughes
first presents
his character Jessie B. Semple in the Forward: Who is Simple? In this tale
the reader is
given its first look at the character Jessie B. Semple who is a black man that
represents almost
the "anybody or everybody" of black society. Semple is a ma
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