Rhetorical Analysis Of The Ballad Of Landlord

‘Ballad of Landlord’ lays an emphasis on the conflict with social injustice between people of different social level. Langston Hughes stresses the idea of unfair advantage given to people of higher ranks in society by subtly raising the idea of racial segregation between the blacks and whites. He develops a unique rhythm to represent the different stances between a Negro tenant and a white landlord through uses of dialogue, rhetorical question, and hyperbole. The poem opens up with a repeated structure in the first two stanzas to show the dependence of a tenant on a landlord. “Landlord, landlord, my roof has sprung a leak…Landlord, Landlord, these steps is broken down.” The repetition of structure develops a song like rhythm to represent the relationship between the landlord and tenant similar to a parent(with higher dominance in both power and social ranks) and a child. First, the tenant claims on the roof leakage, and second he claims on the broken stairs. The tenant takes charge of the conversation by listing all possible things that could be wrong with the house. He technically whines like a child, who is impatient and impulsive. Moreover, the tenant significantly relies on the landlord to fix the house and declare to only pay the bills until there are some adjustments. “Well, that’s Ten Bucks more’n I’ll pay you till you fix this house up new,” the tenant said. This substantiates the stubborn and childlike characteristics of the tenant who constantly view every