The Blues I'm Playing | Themes

The Blues I'm Playing Themes

In "The Blues I'm Playing" Langston Hughes depicts the conflict between a young black pianist, Oceola Jones, and her wealthy white patron, Dora Ellsworth. In the course of their relationship, the two women clash in their views on music, beauty, and sexuality.

Race and Racism

"The Blues I'm Playing," like all of the stories in The Ways of White Folks, reveals to the reader, through form and content, one of the many ways in which racism can operate. While some stories portray the most obvious acts of racism, "The Blues I'm Playing" makes explicit a subtle, racist paternalism. Mrs. Ellsworth embodies the way that paternalism can hide racism, both from herself and others, because it is apparently so well-intentioned: Mrs. Ellsworth wants to help Oceola, so how could she be racist? Hughes's narrative illustrates how.

Mrs. Ellsworth's racism begins, in a sense, with her ignorance: she believes that she has never...
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