Bop - Langston Hughes Analysis

“Bop” - Langston Hughes Analysis

“A dark man shall see dark days. Bop comes out of them dark days.” (Hughes 191.)

Langston Hughes is considered by many to be one of the best African American poets of the 1940s. Some of his most illustrious works include: Still Here, Crystal Stair, Justice, and Mother To Son. Hughes was also one of the first poets to introduce jazz poetry into his writings. He showcases some of the jazz poetry in “Bop”. In Langston Hughes’s “Bop”, he brilliantly writes about a problem that was rampant in the 1940s and is still seen today – police brutality among racial groups.

This dialogue begins with somewhat clueless Hughes and his friend Simple listening to some Bee-Bop music. Hughes explains to Simple that he does not like Bee-Bop music because it sounds like “nonsense.” Simple tells Hughes that Be-Bop holds significance to colored people because it represents the racial injustices that African Americans face. “ ‘In some parts of this American country as soon as the polices see me they say, ‘Boy, what are you doing in the neighborhood?’” (Hughes 191)

Simple uses alliteration when he says where the “Bop” in Be-Bop comes from. “Every time a cop hits a Negro with his billy club, that old club says, ‘Bop! Bop! … Be-Bop! … Mop! … Bop!” (Hughes 191) Hughes no longer thinks this music is nonsense if what Simple says is true.

Simple opens Hughes eyes that white people do not like Be-Bop because they will not get beaten just for being white. Simple also explains that Be-Bop music is not for everyone. “Bop comes out of the dark days… Folks who ain’t suffered much cannot play Bop, neither appreciate it. They think Bop is nonsense – like you.” (Hughes 191.)

In conclusion, I can state that Langston Hughes chose to write about a controversial topic in his time; a topic that could probably get him killed; a topic that got people of his race killed. In my opinion, Hughes’s 1949 audience listened to what he had to say. As one can see, police brutality still goes on in our generation, but has gradually improved since 1949.