"The Bean Eaters" is a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks that was first published in 1960. The poem is a snapshot of life in the inner city, where the speaker observes a poor, elderly couple who subsist on a diet of beans. Despite their poverty, the couple is content and deeply in love, as they sit together at the kitchen table, eating their simple meal.
The poem is written in free verse, with no set rhyme scheme or meter. It is composed of four stanzas, each containing six lines. The language is simple and straightforward, with the speaker using a conversational tone to describe the scene.
The first stanza introduces the couple, who are described as "old" and "gray." They are "bean eaters," subsisting on a diet of cheap and nutritious beans. Despite their poverty, they are content and comfortable with their simple lifestyle.
The second stanza describes the couple's home, which is "clean and neat" but "not showy." It is a humble abode, but it is well-maintained and reflects the couple's pride in their home.
The third stanza focuses on the couple's relationship, which is characterized by deep love and mutual support. They sit together at the kitchen table, eating their beans in silence, but the speaker implies that they are deeply connected and comfortable with each other's company.
The final stanza ends on a hopeful note, as the speaker reflects on the couple's enduring love and suggests that it will continue to sustain them in the future. Despite the hardships they have faced, the couple has found happiness and contentment in each other and in their simple, humble lifestyle.
Overall, "The Bean Eaters" is a poignant and moving depiction of poverty and love in the inner city. It celebrates the strength of human connection and the enduring power of love to sustain us through even the most difficult circumstances.
Examples of Poetic Devices in the Poem 'The Bean Eaters'
The reader can imagine that the old couple, with such strong nostalgia for their youth, holds onto youthful feelings. With the publication of her second volume of poetry, Annie Allen 1949 , she became the first black American writer to win a Pulitzer Prize. This people are often ignored by politics and shunned by their society at large, a message that is elicited through literary elements such as symbolism, metaphor and rhyme The message that the writer is trying to convey is that this poem is about an old poor couple who have yellowed like an old paper or an old leaf they eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair. They eat beans every day because they cannot afford to do otherwise, and though the poem ends with a long outpouring of passion in that final line, it still ends in a perfect formal rhyme. Born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1917, but raised in Chicago, Brooks started writing poetry as a child. The capitalization of the phrase "Mostly Good" puts the phrase in context with grand, dialectical ideas like Good versus Evil.
The Bean Eaters Poem
The second literary element identified in this poem is metaphor. Americans began to see each other less and lose track of the people who lived nearby. The 1980s continued to bring Brooks honors and awardsâin 1980, she read her works at the They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair. There is no other evidence in the poem that these people are African American, but this interpretation is consistent with the idea that they have an elevated sense of prestige. On the other hand, the 1950s brought about unprecedented forward motion in the cause of Although slavery had been abolished for nearly a hundred years, various laws had been enacted, particularly in the southern states, that made it impossible for Plessy vs. Let us look at setting as an example. All they have are those memories as their only link to their earlier life.
The Bean Eaters (Poem) Summary & Study Guide
The Literary Context Of To Kill A Mockingbird 4088 Words 17 Pages The poorest white families in Maycomb County were the Cunninghams and the Ewells, who were living behind the town 's garage dump. Beads, for example, are not inherently wonderful, but the reader believes they are so because of the wonderful effect they have on the old couple. They do this with twinkling and twinges. The labeling of the couple as an "old yellow pair" identifies them by the color of their skin while also engaging with cultural expectations surrounding race and Blackness. The Upper Class In John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath 451 Words 2 Pages The kids are hungry all the time. Remembering, with twinklings and twinges, As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that is full of beads and receipts and dolls and clothes, tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.
Research of G. Brooks's âThe Bean Eatersâ: [Essay Example], 948 words GradesFixer
There is an internal balancing act going on within each stanza and with the poem at large, where when lines become clipped or especially quippy, they are answered with a longer and more ruminating line or stanza. This is Brooks way of displaying the prideful and classist culture of the fifties and sixties. Kent, George, A Life of Gwendolyn Brooks, Lexington: The University of Kentucky Press, 1990. However, a closer look at the narrative will show that it addresses an array of social issues, poverty being the main one. They have been swept aside to make room for a new generation, and all they can do is keep on living.
The Bean Eaters Stanza 2 Summary and Analysis
Buy Study Guide Summary The second stanza retreats from the immediate domestic scene and moves into more abstract musings about the couple's life. Brooks wants to elaborate on poverty by trying to teach it through her words inside of the poem, the techniques, and writing style she used. She wanted her readers to have the ability to understand the poem so that they could easily explain it to others and be able to give them the proper knowledge of the poem when explaining it because it would be so easy to elaborate on. Particularly, the problems of poverty and social conflicts, as well as the significance of family support, ware addressed in The bean eaters. Lisa Parker's Poem 'Snapping Beans' 630 Words 3 Pages I. With Civil Rights demonstrations and student protests and the Vietnam War ramping up, the concerns of the elderly were not often the first consideration. However, it also appeals to the readers that have experienced similar issues.
