The Ways of White Folks: Stories by Langston Hughes Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Ways of White Folks: Stories
Book Review: Langston Gets Tough!!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
The thing that has always bothered me about certain admirers of Langston Hughes is the way, unintentional I guess, some seem to neuter him into being a kind of "minstrel man,"nonthreating to a certain audience because he doesn't challenge them to think to much about certain subjects. THE WAYS WHITE FOLKS definitely disproves this fallacy and proved Langston Hughes could show his teeth.
Without ever standing on a soapbox to shout and point his a finger, here in this collection of short stories Hughes express a range of moods from humorous and bitingly caustic to the tragic showing the various types of ways black and white American interacted with one another during the early part of the 20th century. There is the perennial favorite "CORA UNASHAMED", dealing with a black woman's loneliness and self-awaking in a predominantly white community, SLAVE ON THE BLOCK, dealing with "liberal minded" white dilettantes, "HOME", about a sickly black man who returns home from Europe only to face brutal prejudice, "REJUVENATION THROUGH JOY", a biting satire
that may (?) have been taking a small swipe at Jean Toomer who Hughes lost much respect for after he turned his back to his people to live as white. Then there are the stories "THE BLUES I'M PLAYING" with its hints of Langston's former patron Mrs. Mason, "A GOOD JOB" and "POOR LITTLE FELLOW", all kind of showing the various choices, sacrifices, and prejudice faced in its varied degrees to just get by. And, more shorts where Hughes pretty much presents the entire skin color spectrum of the black American community while recounting in a few stories the often cruel ways these colors came to be, "RED-HEADED BABY" and "FATHER AND SON", this latter about an arrogant black son by a white southern father who refuses to acknowledge him as kin and the resulting tragic consequences. "PASSING", my lease favorite because it was very disturbing, is nevertheless truthful to the affects of racism and self-hate on the soul (e.g. just look at certain male and female actors and singers who cater to prejudiced imaginary percentage points of race for success).
Certain stories in this collection represent a time gone by in race relations in this country. But, while the situation in race relations have change quite significantly, it has not changed completely. There are stories in the WAYS OF WHITE FOLKS that still hold a relevant truth today as the first time they were made public. Still, there exist a widespread denial of the complicated blood history of the larger black American community, only a specific few within the community being allowed the privilege to acknowledge their heritage and, often out of self-hate, contributing to the prejudiced stereotypes against the larger black American community whose blood is "equally" rich and the "same" in its diversity. Still, there exist those little touchs of bigotry today that one has to smile away and pretend doesn't exist and hurt or be branded the angry black and thus difficult,AND the psychologically damaging effects of viewing favorably light skin blacks over dark skin blacks.
Langston Hughes was a skilled and astute observer and this is why much of his work continues to be popular and stand the test of time beyond simple entertainment value. THE WAYS OF WHITE FOLKS is definitely deserves and gets a 5 star rating!!!
Book Review: Lovely
Summary: 4 Stars
I always enjoy anything Langston Hughes, my favorite author, writes and this was no exception. Ironically, I'm doing a class project right now in which a teacher is trying to make the class keep the same strict culture, but the people in the class won't study the culture. It just reminds me of this book so much because many of the characters go from being totally proud of themselves regardless of appearance (but not fitting in with other black people) "Poor Little Black Fellow", to totally disregarding their color "Passing", to disrespecting their culture "Father to Son", to loving the culture but being in the wrong place at the wrong time "Home". In each story, culture matters so much, but some people (like two in my group) just don't seem to care. It's sad that this book is not recent, but fits perfectly with the ways of...you know the title.Book Review: A Hard Look at Brutality, Callousness & Insensitivity
Summary: 5 Stars
How can an author say so much within the confines of so few pages? Within the parameters of several different stories that paint a much larger portrait?
While these stories were written in the 1930s, and one could argue that things have gotten better because of the Civil Rights Movement, this series of short stories depicts some undeniable facts through the vignettes presented in "The Ways of White Folks". The portraits are stark; the characterizations of cruelties, slights, the numerous examples of sheer ignorance are presented in unvarnished terms.
Whether it's the couple who consider themselves to be enlightened enough to collect Negro art and invite Negroes to their home or the outwardly charitable family who raise the "Poor Little Black Fellow" or the vicious cruelty of the man who sires a child and runs away in stark terror when, a year or so later, he sees the baby who bears his own red hair, Langston Hughes knows exactly how to pack an exquisite, well delivered punch straight to the gut!
Two of the vignettes are particularly poignant. One is a letter from a son thanking his mother for not hailing him and showing him any recognition on a public street. His was the good fortune to be born light enough "to pass". He has used that pass to a better life, a white girlfriend, a good job and, of course, he would lose that if his horrid secret were revealed! Imagine the heart of a mother who would receive such a letter. The message is clear, "I need to deny you so that I can have a life." And the letter goes on tell about his white father, with a white family of his own, who would never claim any of his mulatto offspring.
The last story reaches a crescendo in a series that clearly depicts not only the slights but also the cruelties and brutalities that occurred when Negroes were owned. "Father and Son" tells an often-repeated tale of a man who has lived two lives, one the life of prosperity and propriety with a white wife. The second life is one where he magnanimously allows his black mistress/servant and mother of his illegitimate children to live in the big house (but that didn't include their children). Further proof of his magnanimity is the fact that these offspring were allowed schooling, where some of their white counterparts were not even allowed to have an education. The Colonel's illegitimate children are even allowed higher education, if they can handle it.
One son, Bert, is smart, quick, daring and light skinned. He reminds the Colonel, his father, too much of himself in the Colonel's youth. The physical resemblance and personality similarities between father and son are too obvious. Bert's cowers to no man and will not be treated as a nigger...and says so publicly. His daring, where previously bringing him relatively little personal harm because the Colonel would back down, ends catastrophically.
Langston Hughes is a masterful, engrossing, captivating writer and the portrait of some white folks is shameful. Do we ever see ourselves as others see us?
Book Review: PURE GENIUS
Summary: 5 Stars
Langston Hughes's work is a masterpiece at it's best. Any true fan of Langston should explore this fantastic journey of words driven by an absolute genius.Book Review: Piercingly perceptive
Summary: 5 Stars
Before reading this book of short stories, I knew practically nothing about Hughes, other than that he was famous for being one of the first black American writers to develop a style of writing which directly reflected the uniqueness of the Afro-American experience. Reading this collection, however, introduced me for the first time to the mind of a truly great observer, thinker, and communicator. Hughes achieved something which is very important in the now overly politicized climate of race: he documented not only the confounding and hostile conditions which blacks had to endure in the early 20th century, but he understood the white culture as well. Through the eyes of the shrewd and empathetic Hughes, these stories read not so much as indictments of white racism as they do as the clashes of two dramatically different cultures.
To be sure, Hughes does not pull any punches when describing the hostility, condescension, and apathy of whites towards blacks during the Great Depression. These stories are glimpses into a world when overt racism was not only condoned, it was institutionalized as part of the American fabric. But despite the awful conditions for black people at the time, I never got the sense that Hughes was writing to express any personal rage or contempt for white people. He seems to present each heartbreaking scenario as an absurd juxtaposition between two disparate cultures. Instead of taking the easy road by presenting whites as evil, he makes them out to be a paranoid, anal retentive, soulless lot who don't know how to enjoy themselves. Unlike many contemporary discussions of race which tend to oversimplify the complex problems we face, Hughes's stories paint the clash between blacks and whites with deep humanity, empathy, nuance, and even humor.
Stylistically, he certainly belongs to the canon of outstanding 20th century American writers, black and white. He was no mere experimentalist (as I had previously thought), but rather a well schooled craftsman who did his homework first, and then did his own thing with it.
But aside from all my amateur literary criticm, I would like to mention that I simply could not put this book down. These stories are a gift!