Why You Reckon Character Analysis
We have all had those things that appear in our lives and for awhile bring us joy. Just for a little bit. Or maybe it’s the things we wish for, wait the longest for, and once we get it it’s not what we thought it’d be. The most popular of these things would be money. We all think that getting money would make our lives a lot easier, less stressful, and the biggest misconception, happier. But, in the short story “Why, You Reckon?” Langston Hughes uses irony, dialogue and character development to show the audience that money can’t buy you happiness.
In the beginning of this short story, Hughes uses amazing character development to introduce the narrator, who is also the main character. It starts off, “Well, sir, I ain’t never been mixed up in nothin’ wrong before nor since, and I don’t intend to be again, but I was hongry that night. Indeed, I was!” (Hughes 214). From this, the reader has an idea that this character is most likely poor, uneducated, and isn’t a trouble maker. Looking at the way the character speaks, …show more content…
After meeting a stranger and going along with the plan to rob another stranger, the narrator gets nothing. “And, man, don’t you know he went on from that basement and took all that stuff! Left me standin’ just as empty-handed as when I come in there. Yes, sir! He left me with that white boy standin’ in the coal. He’d done took the money, the diamonds, and everythin’, even the shoes! And me nothin’!” (Hughes 218). While the reader was expecting the narrator to split half of the stolen items with the other fellow, the other fellow ended up conning him and taking it all for himself.
Getting closer to the end of the story, Hughes uses dialogue to showcase even more situational irony. The reader, expecting the “white fellow” to be terrified, is shocked by the robbery victim’s reaction.
“Say,” said the white boy “is he
In the beginning of this short story, Hughes uses amazing character development to introduce the narrator, who is also the main character. It starts off, “Well, sir, I ain’t never been mixed up in nothin’ wrong before nor since, and I don’t intend to be again, but I was hongry that night. Indeed, I was!” (Hughes 214). From this, the reader has an idea that this character is most likely poor, uneducated, and isn’t a trouble maker. Looking at the way the character speaks, …show more content…
After meeting a stranger and going along with the plan to rob another stranger, the narrator gets nothing. “And, man, don’t you know he went on from that basement and took all that stuff! Left me standin’ just as empty-handed as when I come in there. Yes, sir! He left me with that white boy standin’ in the coal. He’d done took the money, the diamonds, and everythin’, even the shoes! And me nothin’!” (Hughes 218). While the reader was expecting the narrator to split half of the stolen items with the other fellow, the other fellow ended up conning him and taking it all for himself.
Getting closer to the end of the story, Hughes uses dialogue to showcase even more situational irony. The reader, expecting the “white fellow” to be terrified, is shocked by the robbery victim’s reaction.
“Say,” said the white boy “is he