Crossing the Highway

Cross by Langston Hughes

Thesis: In his multiple connotative poem, Cross, Langston Hughes discusses the turmoil and ambiguity of his ethnic background through examples of colloquialism, parallelism, and antithesis. 

-          Colloquialism

·         “My old man’s a white old man / And my old mother’s black” (Cross 1-2). The reference to how he addresses his parents allude to a discriminatory time period in America (perhaps pre-to-early-1900); this setting motions to the turmoil of Langston as a half black, half white crossbred, an association to the ambiguous title of the poem.

-          Parallelism

·         Consider the following two quotations:

§  “My old man’s a white old man / And my old mother’s black” (1-2).

§  “My old man died in a fine big house. / My ma died in a shack” (9-10).

The first quotation occurred in the first two lines of the poem, and the final quotation appeared in the first two lines of the last stanza. This parallel structure augments the connotation towards being White and being Black. Langston Hughes is making another association with the title through his burden of being ethnically diverse (mixed or crossed heritage). By associating his parents with how well they lived and died, Hughes strongly implies his unforgiving ethnical adversity as a member of society.

-          Antithesis

·         Consider the following two quotations:

§  “If ever I cursed my white old man / I take my curses back” (3-4).

§  “If ever I cursed my black old mother / And wished she were in hell, / I’m sorry for that evil wish / And now I wish her well” (5-8).

These two examples show parallel structure, but they inscribe different meanings. The antithesis is that the two parents are distinguished in their cruelty to their “crossing”, or wrongdoing son. The distinction in character of the mother and father only further increase the social barrier between the two, eventually creating a barrier for Hughes to cross as well. This obstacle is explicitly developed in the final two lines of the poem.