Me-and-the-Mule

MeandtheMuleLangstonHugheswasoneofthefirstblackwriterswhocouldsupporthimselfbyhiswritings.HewasfamousforhisdescriptionsofblackAmericanlife.Heusedhisworktopraisehispeopleandvoicehisconcernsaboutraceandsocialinjustice.Hisworkisknownallaroundtheworldandhasbeentranslatedintomanylanguages.Hughesproducedahugeamountofworkduringhislifetime.Healsohasinfluencedtheworkofmanyotherwriters.Hughes’spoetryhadseriousmessages.Heoftenwroteaboutracialissues,describinghispeopleinarealisticway.Althoughhisstorywasnotoftenpleasant,hetolditwithunderstandingandwithhopeHughesandhiscontemporarieshaddifferentgoalsandaspirationsthantheblackmiddleclass.TheycriticizedthemenknownasthemidwivesoftheHarlemRenaissance,asbeingoverlyaccommodatingandassimilatingeurocentricvaluesandculturetoachievesocialequality.Hughesandhisfellowstriedtodepictthelow-lifeintheirart,thatis,thereallivesofblacksinthelowersocial-economicstrata.Theycriticizedthedivisionsandprejudicesbasedonskincolorwithintheblackcommunity.InthepoemMeandtheMule,allthingsdescribedbyHughesarealmostrelatedtotheblackpeopleandtheirhistory,likeriver,ground,andthemule.Themuleinthispoemisanimageofobedient,mild,kindOldBlackJoeuncleTom.Healwayssmile,andnearlyforgetshisracialinstinctbecauseoftheobedienceofhismaster.Thispoemexpresseshowapersonisn'ttrulyhappy,orcanbe,untiltheybecomeasindifferenttotheirraceasthismuleinthepoem.Inhispoem“,”LangstonHughesdisplayedhisblackprideinsimplebutcatchyEbonicsthatcleverlyusedtheimageofthemule,awordthatwasassociatedwithblackidentityandfromwhich“mulatto”wasderived.