I, Too

Langston Hughes uses extended metaphors, end-stop lines, tone, and parallelism to prove that change can only be obtained with patience and persistence. Hughes' extended 'kitchen' metaphor represented segregation and African Americans' lack of power to do much about it but conform and brush it off. Additionally, later Hughes mentions a table where he, an African American, will sit. This table is another metaphor symbolizing the respect and power whites took from them, not allowing them to sit at the table as if they were inhuman. Regardless, Hughes uses end-stop lines to represent his hope that this division will stop, making the second stanza finish with a hopeful tone. Determined that things will change with patience, he stands for other African Americans as he does what he is told while planning and building himself back up to fight for equality. The result of this method of protest is shown by starting off the third stanza with tomorrow, an optimistic glance at the future. The author uses parallelism with the line "when company comes", which stands for the white population, and his extended table metaphor to contrast how African Americans now share the respect they lacked before their situation changes. Hughes argues that thanks to endurance and persistence, African Americans will be able to sit at the table and command as much respect as they were deprived of before.

Nothing can be obtained in an isolated effort, just as much as nothing can be carried out with restlessness. It takes hours, days, weeks, months, and more to improve anything that is worth improving. Rome wasn't built in a day, Spiderman didn't learn to swing in a day, and the lightbulb was invented in one try. Success only comes from failure if you have the mindset to make lemonade out of lemons.