The+Ballad+of+the+Landlord

media type="custom" key="6191713"

"The Ballad of The Landlord" by Langston Hughes is a catchy poem used to describe the terrible living conditions tenants had to deal with while living in New York City in the 1930's ("The Ballad Of The Landlord by Langston Hughes at Old Poetry."). He keeps a steady rhyme scheme to draw the attention of the reader. This helps the reader to concentrate on the words to gain a better understanding of the poem. The poem was written was written as message expressing that tenants were being mistreated by their landlords. They were living in dangerous, unsanitary, and overall crappy conditions, but were still forced to pay their landlords even though the money was not used for bettering their environment ("The Ballad Of The Landlord by Langston Hughes at Old Poetry.").

Hughes is not just complaining about the conditions, but also how unjustly he and other African Americans were treated at this time. "Um-huh! You talking high and mighty. Talk on-till you get through. You ain't gonna be able to say a word, If I land my fist on you. Police! Police! Come and get this man! He's trying to ruin the government and overturn the land!" ("The Ballad Of The Landlord by Langston Hughes at Old Poetry."). These lines express Hughes' point. The narrator was not given any respect and the landlord refused to fix anything, so he punches the landlord and is accused of trying to overthrow the government. Writing about this event represents Modernism because in a way Hughes is speaking out about how unjust the government was being. Hughes is one of the first to intentionally speak out against the government through writing. This breaks past tradition and adds modern characteristics to his writing ("Modernism in Literature: What Is Modernism?").

Along with a Modernistic style, Hughes writes his stories with emotion. The emotion Hughes places within his work branches from events of his life. In "The Ballad of The Landlord" he talks about unfair treatment of he and other African Americans. This idea comes from that time period. When Hughes wrote this poem, racial equality did not necessarily exist ("Race in the 1930s.") .. Blacks were treated very poorly compared to whites ("Race in the 1930s."). This unfair treatment angered Hughes and gave him inspiration to write about it.

The inspiration was the key factor in helping Hughes place emotion within his writing. In many of his works Hughes uses the idea of racial inequality to provide an emotional pull in his works ("Race in the 1930s."). Claude McKay, another author from the time period, also thrives off of emotion. However, the idea that inspired him was not racial inequality, but the Love for his homeland. In many of his works he speaks of Jamaica and how deeply he misses it ("The Tropics of New York."). In a sense, both rely on emotion and inspiration for their writing, but find it in different places.

Obviously, Hughes wrote this poem expressing his feelings towards landlords. He was unhappy with the way they were treating their tenants. This anger gave him inspiration to call them out and tell them they were wrong.

"Modernism in Literature: What Is Modernism?" //Find Health, Education, Science & Technology Articles, Reviews, How-To and Tech Tips At Bright Hub - Apply To Be A Writer Today! //  Web. 27 Apr. 2010. .

"Race in the 1930s." //American Studies @ The University of Virginia // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 32px;">. Web. 04 May 2010. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/NewYorker/Race.html>.

"The Ballad Of The Landlord by Langston Hughes at Old Poetry." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 32px;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 80%;">Oldpoetry - Classical Poetry Discussion // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; line-height: 32px;">. Web. 03 May 2010. <http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/49026-Langston-Hughes-The-Ballad-Of-The-Landlord>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 80%;">"The Tropics of New York." //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 80%;">Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 80%;">. Web. 27 Apr. 2010. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15249>.