Stephen Crane

Think as I Think

Think as I Think - meaning Summary

Defiant Acceptance of Insult

Crane's short poem shows a clash over authority and identity. A man demands conformity, calling the speaker "a toad" if he does not comply. Rather than resist or argue, the speaker adopts the label deliberately. The poem compresses a sly act of self-determination: accepting an imposed insult transforms it into a chosen identity, undermining the coercer's power and exposing the emptiness of forced moral judgments.

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"Think as I think," said a man, "Or you are abominably wicked; You are a toad." And after I had thought of it, I said, "I will, then, be a toad."

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