Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” is a short yet intriguing poem that contains many elements to arouse a reader’s curiosity. From the title to the lines and stanzas, the word play entices readers as it generates a sense of arrogance, pride and bravado. This short poem details the events of seven young men whose life choices ends up leading to their untimely death. Brooks uses literary elements such as the player’s wordplay, the setting and the change of tone in the last line in order to illustrate the theme of targeting the dangers of the youth.
The wordplay in the poem emphasizes the player’s misplaced courage and insecurities. By simply reading the title and the first few lines, one can see the pride that these players exuberate for having left school. The speaker states “Seven at the golden shovel”. This phrase is a symbolic one as it contains many different connotations. The word golden can indicate the youthful arrogance of the seven players but the phrase can also indicate one digging their own …show more content…
These young men inherit a new sense of freedom by no longer being confined to the conventions set forth by society. They are now able to enjoy more aspects of their rebellious lifestyle. Despite the contrary, Brooks dramatically changes the tone in the last line when she states “we die soon”. The previous defiant attitude becomes pathetic and sorrowful. This leads readers to ponder over the disordered lives of the so called “cool kids”. The notion of “living while young” is deeply rooted amongst the youth. To most of them, getting old automatically means death so therefore, they end up living recklessly at a young age. This and their lack of fear pushes them to be brave amongst dangerous situations even though it means exposing them to it. As a result, not only did these seven young men lived while they were young they also died young