BOOKS
51
We no longer, it is true, believe in the vulgar conception of revolu–
tionary literature. We no longer believe that a revolutionary writer is he
who indulges in "revolutionary:' hysterics. Truth in our d::y3, to repeat
a much repeated phrase, is revolutionary. But to depict the truth
oi
our
present-day life is not a simple matter. To depict the truth one must
have a thorough understanding of the conflicting forces in our society, and,
what is more, one must have a broad vision. But Langston Hughe!!' vision,
at least exemplified by this collection of stories, is, unfortunately, very
limited.
Take, for instance, the story of
Cora Unashamed.
Cora Jenkins, a
Negro woman, was one of the last of the citizens of the little miserable town
of Melton. She worked for the Studevants. The Studevants we1e rich
white people. They treated Cora as an inferior, as a dog. Cora stood
it. She had to stand it or go jobless. "Cora was like a tree-once rooted,
she stood, in spite of storms and strife, wind and rocks, in the earth." The
woman's life was gray and uneventful except once when she fell in love
with a ·white Wobbly who happened to pass through the town. The
union was a short one. The Wobbly disappeared. Cora gave birth to a
little girl. She called her Josephine, after Joe, the Wobbly. Cora did
not go anywhere to have the child. Nor tried to hide. She was "humble
and unashamed before the fact of the child.:' It was quite different \Vith
the Studevant's youngest daughter who was also going to have an il–
legitimate child. The girl wanted the child. Not so the Studevant family.
It
was a blot upon their life of fake respectability. The mother preferred
the daughter's death to an illegitimate grandchild. The girl was forced to
have an abortion. She died. Cora was indignant. The Studcvant's
criminal stupidity amazed her. Cora was unashamed.
I have given the gist of
Cora Unashamed
sowcwhat at length not
only because it is the most powerful story in the volume but also it gives
us a clue to the Hughes' other stories.
Langston Hughes is a superb story teller. His style is lyrical a11d
swift-moving except when he labors hard to achieve a jazz effect. Also,
his characters are real and alive. They suffer, however, from one weak–
ness: they never think; they just feel.
Cora is elemental. She is naive, simple and static, like "a tree--once
rooted she stood, in spite of storms and strife." All Negro characters in
The Ways of l'Fhite
Folks-whether they are artists or workers-are
elemental, naive, simple and static.
Is that the truth? Perhaps. Only it is a limited truth. Certainly
it is no longer symbolic of all the Negroes in America. Although Langston
Hughes is supposed to be a revolutionary writer, the drama of the rising
revolutionary consciousness of the Negro masses in America has altogether
escaped him.
Cora's story, the author will say, is dramatic. True enough. But
is the story of the thinking and fighting Negroes any less dramatic? Is
the story of Angelo Herndon any less dramatic?
