18 pages • 36 minutes read
Langston HughesTired
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1931A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Worms as Evil Actors
The worms symbolize hostile elements in the world because, in the metaphor, the worms infiltrate the fruit, eat “the rind” (Line 8), and make inedible what could have been a good piece of fruit. Worms also connect with images of maggots, parasites, and contamination, or could apply to earthworms living underground; worms lurk beneath the surface. Applying the metaphor to the world, the malign people take over society (the rind) and corrupt it from the inside out. However, there is something optimistic about this symbol: Worms are not the most intimidating foes because it is possible to eradicate them; therefore, the speaker presents the evil forces as readily vanquishable.
The Reader/Audience as Interlocutor and Ally
The reader and the audience—the "you" in Line 2—carry important symbolism because the "you" propels the poem forward. After the speaker declares, "I am so tired of waiting" (Line 1), he turns to the reader and asks, "Aren't you" (Line 2). The "you" gives the speaker someone to talk to and symbolizes an interlocutor or a companion. Without the "you," the speaker is alone and must figure out how to continue the poem by himself.
The "you" also represents an ally or someone who agrees with the speaker's evaluation of the world. After the speaker asks the reader if they're tired of the world's dearth of beauty, goodness, and kindness, he switches to the plural pronoun "us" (Line 5). The inclusion of "us" means that the speaker has answered the question posed in Line 2 for the audience. He assumes the reply is “yes,” which is why he brings the reader in on the action, and, together, they "cut the world in two" (Line 6).
Staying Away from Specifics
One motif of the poem is deliberate elusiveness. The speaker doesn't delve into specific reasons for why the world is so bad. The speaker states that it's not good, beautiful, or kind, and while these words are familiar and definable, they're, nonetheless, rather sweeping. Goodness, beauty, and kindness can manifest in multiple ways depending on the person and subjective viewpoint. There are myriad examples of goodness, kindness, and beauty, yet the speaker doesn't provide his definition of these wide-ranging terms.
The inexactitude continues with the "worms" (Line 7). The image of the worms summons a mass of indistinct people contributing to the woes of the world. As with beauty, kindness, and goodness, the speaker doesn't provide particulars about what the worms are doing. Besides "eating" (Line 7), the speaker has nothing further to say about them. With the elusive motif, the poem shows how it's possible to create a clear image without the clearest of meanings.
Related Titles
By Langston Hughes
