Prejudice in Langston Hughes’s, “On the Road”

Slavery, in the United States, was formally abandoned in 1865 with the establishment of the Thirteenth Amendment. Still, racial discrimination of African-Americans proved to be prevalent throughout the country, and even in today’s society, continues to be a considerable issue. Langston Hughes’s short story “On the Road” is set in during the Great Depression, an economic meltdown in the United States. Many citizens lives turned into homelessness, starvation and pleading as they were left depending on shelters and the softheartedness of others in order for their survival. The central focus of Hughes’s story is the overwhelming emotional experiences faced by main character, Sargeant regarding racism, especially during the cruel economic circumstances he and thousands of others encountered. The story echoes a message of prejudice like that regularly faced by the African-American’s of Hughes’s generation. In the middle of a winter storm, Sargeant travels shelter to shelter simply to find a warm place to rest for the night only to be sent away repeatedly. He reaches the door of Reverend Dorset’s parsonage and he is no more hopeful that he will be taken in. Hughes captures the struggle of the African-American man in the initial thoughts of the Reverend during this scene in the story, “. . . standing there before him a big black man with snow on his face, a human piece of night with snow on his face — obviously unemployed” (446.) In spite of the fact that before Sargeant is able to speak and ask for some shelter, the Reverend almost instantly recites directions to the relief shelter of the town. Dorset begins and ends his response once opening the door with a very brief apology, only further confirming his insincerity and his seemingly rehearsed reply. Had Dorset allowed Sargeant a moment to speak would he know that the