Langston Hughes was a writer who was able to look diversity in the face.
borrowed from experiences in his own life as well as his friends" lives and the lives of .
those around him. Growing up Langston endured hard times but was able to draw from .
his past and turn it into a creative outlet. He chose to write about the ordinary blacks, .
rather than the educated blacks that others chose as subjects. He used one character, Jesse .
Semple, referred to as "Simple," to especially express human feelings and evoke readers" .
emotions (Haskins 100). Langston was also a political man, who used his writing to .
promote his views. Even at his death Langston Hughes was able to find humor in life, and .
especially in himself (Adams 340). .
Many of the people that Langston was in contact with as he was growing and .
developing were influential to his writing style as well as the characters he created. .
Langston had a difficult childhood and adolescence. He was born to James Nathaniel .
Hughes, a law student, and Carrie Mercer Langston Hughes, a stenographer and .
newspaper woman (Haskins 1). Even his parents" educated status couldn't save their .
family from poverty, as blacks were still looked upon as ignorant, regardless of how .
much education they had received. As economics in their home grew worse, so did the .
relationship between James and Carrie. When Langston Hughes was almost two, James .
moved out of the house, leaving Langston to be brought up by his mother. Carrie and .
Langston moved around frequently due to the lack of available employment for single, .
black mothers. Carrie would get night jobs so she could leave Langston home alone, .
sleeping, to avoid the cost of child care. When Langston was six his mother decided she .
had moved her son around too much. She enlisted her mother, Mary Sampson Patterson .
Langston, to take over the care of Hughes so she would be free to move around and .
Langston would have a somewhat normal life.
