To Certain &Quot;brothers"
To Certain &Quot;brothers" - meaning Summary
Hypocrisy Exposed to Shame
Langston Hughes castigates people who present themselves as righteous and friendly while concealing cruelty and corruption. The speaker condemns their ‘‘truthful lies,’’ pious gestures and mock welcomes as a theatrical cover for moral decay. Vivid images of dirt, rotting hearts and howling hyenas depict an inner emptiness and menace beneath polite Christian postures. The poem is a blunt denunciation of hypocrisy and false brotherhood.
Read Complete AnalysesYou sicken me with lies, With truthful lies. And with your pious faces. And your wide, out-stretched, mock-welcome, Christian hands. While underneath Is dirt and ugliness, And rotting hearts, And wild hyenas howling In you soul's wasteland.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.