Comparison of Short Story / Poem (Essay Sample)

Similarities between Langston Hughes’ "Early Autumn" and Toni Morrison's "Recitatif"
Name:
Institution:
Similarities between Langston Hughes’ "Early Autumn" and Toni Morrison's "Recitatif"
Langston Hughes remains a celebrated 20th century African American author. Born in 1902, Hughes life experiences as well as his works of literature derive from humble backgrounds and substantially involve aspects of abolitionism and racial status. Even so, critics have termed his works as being overly racist or communist per se. On the other hand, Toni Morrison is yet another remarkable and especially creative American author, who made significant literary contribution over the 20th century. She uniquely employs sensitive imagination in her works of fiction. This paper aims to compare two literary works of the aforementioned authors. Inx particular, "Early Autumn" by Langston Hughes, and "Recitatif" by Toni Morrison.
In "Early Autumn" Hughes describes the life of a mother by making unique use of an extended metaphor for imagery. He compares this life to a staircase. The fact that one has to employ effort in climbing the steps of a stairs implies that the narrator has not had a simple or easy life. In fact, the melancholic and or somber tone in his writing directly points out towards the plight of African Americans aiming to achieve the American dream. Slavery and racial segregation rendered African Americans second-class citizens. At the onset (and even the conclusion), he states, "Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair" . The theme of racism depicted by Hughes is also common to the writings of Morrison. In "Recitatif" specifically, the author demonstrates poor living conditions that African Americans faced at the time. She makes use of stereotypes associated with the different races as figures of speech in the story and as imagery for the characters. This leaves it to her readers to figure out which character is of what race for she does not reveal this information.
Another unique similarity can be observed in the two literary works discussed in this paper. Langston also dialogs to imply imagery in a concealed manner. Mary refutes to have a conversation with Bill and opts to take a bus from the square. On the other hand, in "Recitatif”, the lively character Twyla, unlike Roberta, refuses to accept the circumstances surrounding her, that her mother is unwell. This shows how self-denial can result in loss of opportunity to make things better for one. For accepting the difficulties of life, Roberta sows a strong character, probably due to the difficult conditions she might have faced before. As such, one could correctly argue that she is the black girl in Morrison’s story.
It is safe to say that both works of the authors discussed in this paper have similarities of setting from a cultural perspective. Langston is keen to demonstrate just how the effects of lost love and opportunity can affect an individual in life. Especially a member of a minority group in society, the character Mary chose to be a conformist to the detriment of her happiness and wellbeing. She lost the opportunity of having a meaningful contact with Bill. Furthermore, "Peop...