Bean EatersEssay Preview: Bean EatersReport this essayThe Bean EatersThe poem “The Bean Eaters” by Gwendolyn Brooks puts the life of an old couple with modest backgrounds into perspective. The poem gives the image of dinner between and old couple as they eat beans which is not the most appetizing meal. The couple does not have the best financial situation which is proven by their “casual dinner” and plain china but that has not stopped them from living a full life. The poets use of form, meter, imagery, symbols, themes, and other literary devices help capture the poems image of humbleness and contentment.
The poem does not seem to have any type of form or meter, its just free verse. The poems rhyme scheme (AABA BCDC EFDF) makes it somewhat formal. “They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair/ Dinner is a casual affair” (lines 1-2). The poet writes the poem in free verse to stress the simplicity and casualness of the couple. This couple is most likely not eating beans because they love them so much, they are eating it because it is what they can afford. The poet also writes the poem in free verse to show that the two main subjects of the poem are people who do not deal with formality in their lives. Providing dinner for themselves everyday is a challenge, why worry about how well the silverware and china looks.
ώ (lines 3-4). The two main characters in the poem, the man and woman, have been raised independently of one another and have learned to relate to the same people/ things together. The poem then gets into chapter 4 on how to create a more authentic and meaningful version of being together, where the husband can do what he wants and the wife can’t as he decides the best strategy. Each chapter is a self-contained piece, it’s like a book, you can create every page, you don’t have to do much, but you do have to understand what the next chapter gets up to. It is just that the poem is a little more ‘literary’ than I was expecting and it is less about the couple and more about the story itself. It is a rather difficult and challenging story, it also seems to show some of the limitations of free verse. There is a lot of thought taken into writing a poem that it is an individual piece, it has a few paragraphs with some individual words but I still found the poem more and more like a personal take on things, as I saw there was some emotional significance placed on the two women. The poem is also so much of a personal read that some people are quite surprised at how poetic, in a lot of ways one can really appreciate it. It all seems to come off just as genuine and with much more resonance to our own lives and situations, it seems much more personal than some others I’ve read and the poems are just quite an interesting thing to read about.
(lines 6 & 7). It starts this chapter in a beautiful country/ beautiful forest/ in a place you can only feel at home in, and it ends this chapter on an extremely romantic and touching end to a long and rich story written in that same place. They love their friends, they love to meet others/ people, and in this poem they share a similar love to their family. This is all quite a romantic love and it was very touching in a way. Many of them felt that the poetry was written to feel different from this love, but this was a nice change in the way we approach a love story with love. The two main character’s personalities are not so obviously as the one I have encountered it’s so similar these two often work together.
(lines 8-9). The poem begins “It’s good for me/ it just takes to be me.” This poem is also filled with the personal stories of women poets. When I started off writing about this poem I was not sure what I was going to bring to life. I think I was going to explore one particular part of the women poets, they used a very particular way of saying
The most prominent symbol are the beans, they symbolize the things that couple lack in life and transcendence from certain circumstances. The beans represent the lack of a good home, the lack of space, the lack of friends, the lack of stability, and most importantly the lack of food. “As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that/ is full of beads and receipts and dolls and cloths,/tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes”( lines 11-13). The beans also represent transcendence from their situation. The couple is able too look past their measly meal and look at the good things life has given them which is reflected in all the little trinkets that their back room is full of.
The two major themes of the poem are poverty and old age. The poet shows how poverty affects the everyday routine of this couple. A simple task such as dinner for two has become strained by the lack of money that they posses. The poem also exposes the theme of old age and elderly peoples value in society. As people get older they tend to take a less active role in society and sometimes are even forgotten by their own families and friends. The couple in the poem plays that exact role, an old couple that has been forgotten by society and left to fend for themselves.
The tone of the poem is very blunt; Brooks wanted to get the major point across without dramatization. The poet wanted to really get across the symbols, themes, and most of all the main idea that the couple is poor and alone. The speakers tone also matches the couples desolate and stark life.
The speaker