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“On the Road” by Langston Hughes is a short story about a strong, but poor black man named Sargeant seeking food and shelter in the middle of a snow storm in a small, white town in Kansas. He seeks shelter at a church, but the doors are locked, so he knocks the doors down. The church ends up falling down, he dreams of walking with Jesus, and then he ends up in jail. This essay focuses on several aspects in this story, such as the continuous shut doors, the church falling down, the walk with Jesus, then him ending up in jail dazed and confused, and whether or not any of this pertains to Langston Hughes’ life. The theme of this story is basically racism; it is supported by several literary devices such as symbolism, setting, point of view, allusion, and other elements. This story is filled with symbols. The first symbol was the snow and how it represented white people. Sargeant is oblivious in how he, “never even noticed the snow” just as he is to the white people shouting at him (Meyer 574). The shut doors represent the unwelcome ness towards him by white people because he is black. This was evident when the reverend said, “I’m sorry, no!” and shut the door (Meyer 574). The church falling represents Sargeant’s strong body falling and being torn down by the cops. The church falling on the people represents God’s disappointment that the people did not help him, instead they yelled at him.
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