31 pages • 1 hour read
Langston HughesCora Unashamed
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1933A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Voice
The narrative voice in “Cora Unashamed” is notably inconsistent. At times, the narration is distant, a matter-of-fact report of events. The death of Cora’s child is related in one brief, impassive sentence: “But in a little while they didn’t need to tell Cora to leave her child at home, for Josephine died of whooping cough” (8). At other times, the narrative voice is a more closely involved persona, satirically taking on the emotions of the secondary characters or the opinions of society in general, like in the line, “The only Negroes in Melton, thank God!” (4).
These changes in narrative voice provide social commentary on the value systems of white society, and they subtly reflect the expectations of Black humility and shame. The matter-of-fact narrative voice becomes most prevalent when relating tragic circumstances. Like the death of Cora’s child, Jessie’s death is related in a similarly stoic manner: “They called in old Dr. Brown, but within a month (as quick as that) Jessie died” (15). The aloof language used to describe these tragic events mirrors the resigned attitude with which Cora, as a Black woman, is supposed to accept the burdens of racial inequality. On the other hand, when the voice becomes intimate and uses exclamatory phrases, the effect is satirical. This is most clearly seen right after Cora informs Mrs. Studevant of Jessie’s pregnancy and Mrs. Studevant falls into uncontrollable hysterics: “There was a rush for camphor bottles and water and ice. Crying and praying followed all over the house. Scandalization! Oh, my Lord! Jessie was in trouble” (12). Jessie’s mother is not worried about Jessie’s health or her emotional well-being; her biggest concern is what people will think. The language and voice used here portray Mrs. Studevant’s attitude as selfish and shallow.
Euphemism
Many harsh realities for African Americans and women in 20th-century America are present in the story but are depicted with subtlety and euphemism. There are multiple reasons for choosing this approach. Hughes may have felt the need for caution when addressing concepts deemed improper or those that could exacerbate tensions between Black and white communities. Cora’s affair with Joe and the resulting pregnancy are one example, considering attitudes toward interracial relationships at the time. The details are glossed over in euphemistic terms: “Love didn’t take long […]. Thus the summer passed, a dream of big hands and gray eyes” is immediately followed by “Cora didn’t go anywhere to have her child” (6-7). Another delicate subject portrayed euphemistically in the story is the reality of white men sexually assaulting Black women and the relative acceptance of such occurrences. Referring to Cora’s sisters, Hughes writes, “One by one, the girls left too, mostly in disgrace […]. There was something about the cream-and-tan Jenkins girls that attracted the white farmhands.” The reader is left to derive their own opinion of whether these girls willingly participated in these relationships.
Metaphor
Metaphors in “Cora Unashamed” help the reader conceptualize some of the more complex ideas, such as society’s reliance on informal and economic forces to subjugate Black Americans. Hughes compares these economic forces, which keep Cora in the Studevants’ power most of her life, to teeth in a trap. He evokes an image of an animal caught in a hunter’s trap, its sharp teeth embedded in its flesh. As a visual, it engenders sympathy for Cora and the Black community she represents.
On two separate occasions in the story, Hughes uses metaphor to compare Cora to a tree. First to explain why Cora continues to work for the Studevants, though they treat her terribly: “Cora was like a tree—once rooted, she stood, in spite of storms and strife, wind, and rocks, in the earth” (4). In this instance, comparing Cora to a tree evokes a sense of strength and pride; she stands tall no matter what happens. The second time Cora is compared to a tree, the metaphor carries a different connotation: “In that big and careless household it was always Cora who stood like a calm and sheltering tree for Jessie to run to in her troubles” (9). Here, the canopy of the tree represents Cora, a simplified, concrete representation of the motherly love and protection Cora gives to Jessie.
Irony
Hughes employs situational irony to emphasize Cora’s selflessness. Two examples involve disparities between what the reader expects to happen and what actually happens. From childhood, Cora has to help her mother care for seven younger siblings, leaving no time for play. These siblings are “Bad, crying bratty babies, hungry and mean” (5). Having experienced all the hardship and sacrifice of unplanned children, Cora might be expected to fear having a baby of her own and discourage Jessie from going through with her pregnancy. Instead, Cora embraces motherhood and tells Mrs. Studevant, “No trouble having a baby you want” (12). Throughout Jessie’s childhood, Cora devotes more time and attention, more love and support to Jessie than her own mother. When Jessie dies, Cora’s suffering is likely greater than Mrs. Studevant’s, yet Cora must put aside her pain to support Mrs. Studevant, cook for her, and dote on her. This ironic contrast fleshes out a broad idea about marginalization as it applied to African Americans in Hughes’s lifetime.
Hughes also uses irony to evoke emotion by contrasting a hopeful atmosphere with Jessie’s tragic death. He writes, “Then spring came in full bloom, and the fields and orchards at the edge of Melton stretched green and beautiful to the far horizon” (13). Simultaneously, Jessie is in Kansas City having an abortion, an event that will lead to her death within a month. Her demise betrays the expectations elicited by such bucolic imagery, mirroring Jessie’s betrayal by a family that was supposed to love her and a society that was supposed to give her privilege and opportunity. Cora, too, is betrayed, as she realizes a life of humility and docile service to white society has not prevented the people she loves most from being taken from her.
Related Titles
By Langston Hughes
