"Cross" Poem Explication

In the poem “Cross” by Langston Hughes, Hughes tells the story of a bi-racial child who does not know his future. The title, “Cross” has several denotation. An obvious denotation is the cross associated with Christianity. However, it can also mean a cross of two things. The narrator starts out saying “My old man’s a white old man, and my old mother’s black”. This shows the reader that the narrator has a Caucasian father and an African-American mother. They then continue on saying “If I ever cursed my white old man I take my curses back”. This means that the narrator regrets saying some mean things to his father.

            The next stanza focuses on the narrator’s mother. The narrator says that “if I ever cursed my black old mother and wished she were in hell, I’m sorry for that evil wish and now I wish her well”. Now, the narrator has expressed prior animosity for both his mother and his father. However, more of the anger seems to be directed towards his mother. The curse is specified as telling the mother that she should go to hell. Now that the mother has passed away, the narrator regrets that wish.

            The narrator then gives details about his parent’s death and says the father “died in a big fine house” but the mother “died in a shack”. This shows the lack of equality during that time period. Even though the parents shared a child, the father is very wealthy and does not support the mother. Being bi-racial, the narrator wonders where they are going to die. They think that since they are half black, they can’t live in a mansion. However, being half white, the narrator thinks that they are more privileged than to live in a shack. This statement further illustrates the separation during that time period and the important that was put on race. Throughout the poem, the narrator uses informal language such as “ma” and “gonna”. This diction shows how the narrator lacks the class that is often associated with the white race.