Evan Lott
Ms. Spencer
English 111 Composition Literature
10 January 2025
Binary Boxes
In Langston Hughes’s story, the metaphor of the dance feels like it’s celebrating freedom and connection. At first glance, it seems like a moment of joy—people coming together, differences embraced, and everyone invited to be part of something bigger. But as the story goes on, it becomes clear that this dance isn’t what it seems. It’s not about celebrating individuality or community; it’s about survival. The party doesn’t exist to create bonds or celebrate diversity—it’s a way to make rent. The host isn’t participating in the celebration but instead turns his space into a tool for financial survival. Hughes demonstrates this feeling of tension and difference in many of his poems across his career. Though, these themes are most prominent in his poems, 'Seven People Dancing', 'I, too', and 'Let America be America Again. Which all use vivid imagery and symbolism to show what life was like for him and his community in Harlem.
Marcel’s alienation is further shown by his queer identity. LGBTQ+ people often experience the world through a lens of invisibility due to stereotypes that push them into a ‘binary box’ of gender; the correlation between gender and sex is normality that limits expression because it creates difference in those that do not conform, “perhaps this construct called ‘sex’ is as culturally constructed as gender; indeed, perhaps it was always already gender with the consequence that the distinction between sex and gender turns out to be no distinction at all” (Butler 1990, 9). Hughes’s story embodies this struggle for recognition. Marcel is not openly navigating his queerness, nor is his identity fully embraced by those around him. He is not participating in the dance of self-expression and connection; rather, he is distanced from it by his financial needs and his internal conflicts.
The limitations imposed on the dance—both in terms of its economic function and its emotional disconnect—serve as a metaphor for how queer people of color are often excluded from spaces of freedom and self-expression. While the partygoers may appear to be engaging in a celebration, they are using Marcel's space for their enjoyment, with little regard for his needs or desires, “The other couples laughed and the laughter bounced, like very hard rubber balls, around the room, not like tennis balls but like solid hard rubber balls, and Marcel laughed, too. Marcel’s laughter was like a painter’s ground cloth that protects the furniture and anything else under a ceiling being painted” (Hughes). This demonstrates the off-putting and almost dangerous nature of the laughter about Marcel who was on guard to protect. Just as Marcel’s party is a vehicle for personal survival rather than celebration, queer people of color are often expected to perform their identities in ways that fit standards to not cause danger. Even in environments of ‘acceptance and safety’ like workplaces and schools, queer people and people of color can be asked to perform their diversity. Marcel’s character reflects the feelings of these groups, as even in an environment that is meant to be safe and fun, he is still put in the position to cover his identity with a cloth. The abrupt ending, which is filled with shouting and orders, demonstrates that there is still tension and danger, and it justifies that Marcel is safer being closed and reserved even in this ‘fun’ environment.
In the poem, “I, too” Langston Hughes shows us a narrative that rings true with Black empowerment today. Many assume that BIPOC do not like America when the relationship with America is not that simple. For people of color, many want change in America, but that does not change the respect for the country that was built on their backs. The imagery is still traced today with famous activists in the black community; in rapper A$AP Rocky’s album Long.Live.A$AP, a musician from Harlem, we see him wrapped in the American flag, and in other promotional photos, there are pictures of Rocky with the flag flying over his back. Hughes's poem ends powerfully, “tomorrow, I’ll be at the table, when company comes. Nobody’ll dare say to me, ‘Eat in the kitchen,’ Then. Besides, they’ll see how beautiful I am, and be ashamed—I, too, am America” (I, too). No matter how much hurt there is to reform, even if it ever is easier to move to another country. It is vital to stay because the seat was earned long ago. Rocky symbolizes what Langston Hughes aimed to do long ago, which is to show that the American flag was built upon the backs of people of color and should therefore fly high above them. Hughes furthers this idea in his poem, “Let America Be America Again,” a title that we learn is satirical. Between each triumphant stanza emphasizing the American dream, he gives the audience his experience as an American, “Let it be the pioneer on the plain, seeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me)” (Let America Be America Again).
In all, throughout Hughes's career, he gave America the view of the underrepresented. Not only did he give this experience, but he justified the experience and allowed the audience to feel what he and others felt in his community. Hughes forces us to confront the limitations of our understanding of Marcel’s experience. This mirrors the social dynamics that queer people of color face, where their experiences are often misunderstood, ignored, or distorted by those who do not share their identities. The reader’s position—separated from the characters, unable to fully engage with their inner worlds—reinforces the theme of isolation and exclusion throughout the story.
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