The poem “The Bean Eaters”, by Gwendolyn, highlights the poverty and loneliness of an elderly couple who are forgotten by almost everyone. Their children have moved on and left; the government, society and even their own parents have forgotten them. As a result, they eat beans daily. Despite the modernization of our world, people live in extreme conditions. This group is often shunned and ignored by society and politics. Literary elements like metaphors, rhymes, and symbolism are used to convey this message.
The message is to say that the old yellow couple eats mostly beans. In the second stanza and third line, the writer is trying to show this couple has no fancy preparations and plans for dinner. Even their old plates and chips are old. The author uses the word plain in line 3 twice to show how poor the couple is. It is likely that the couple are “casual”, as they cannot afford to be anything else. In line 5 of the second stanza (two mostly good people), the author says “Mostly Good”. Brooks probably wanted to tell us that this couple was not an angel. They were good people, but they also had their bad side. Although they may have made mistakes in the past, that doesn’t make them bad. Lines 7: (But they keep on putting their clothes on..and putting away things). Even though the couple has been forgotten, their life continues. They wake up each morning and continue to put on clothes. In the ninth stanza, the word remembering appears twice. As they age, they often reminisce about the olden days. The twinkle and twinge in their eyes are a sign of this. They may twinkle with joy when they recall happy memories, but they might also twinge out of pain if the memory is painful. The author ends the poem by listing the objects the couple has around them. The author wants to show all of the things the couple has accumulated throughout their lives. The author is trying to show us all the things that this couple had accumulated over their life.
This poem is a combination of metaphor, symbolism and rhyme. Symbolism refers to the use symbols that have a different meaning than their literal meaning. The title represents the poverty that the couple is experiencing. Beans can be easily grown and are inexpensive. They are also eaten by the couple so often, they have been dubbed “the bean eaters” to show their extreme poverty. Other symbols of their poverty include the chipware made from tin, the creaking furniture, and the flatware. The couple’s past life could be represented by beads, receipts and dolls. Clothes, tobacco crumbs and vases, as well as dolls and clothes.
This poem contains a second literary element, which is metaphor. Metaphors describe something as being another. A metaphor is used to describe one thing as another.
This poem’s rhyme is its third literary element. The rhyme is AABA BCDC. However, in the second line of the stanza, it does not rhyme. This is a quatrain.
Two People Who Are Mostly Good b
Two people who lived their days.
They keep putting their clothes on.
Then, they put their belongings away.
Brooks’ poem calls on us to be aware of things that are often overlooked and to realize there are many people in a terrible situation. It is an incredibly powerful message, particularly for teenagers. In addition to highlighting the poverty, the author also highlights the loneliness of this couple. In this poem, the author uses a variety of objects to demonstrate that the couple was surrounded by old objects without any human contact. It is a message that young people should not abandon their parents, even when they are grown and independent. Lines 9 (And remembering…remembering with twinkling and twinges) and 10 (And reminiscing…remembering with twinking, twinges, and twinges, with twinkling and twinges, with twinking, twinges, and twinges, with twinking, twinges, and twinges, with twinking, twinges, and twinges, with twinkings and twinges, with twinkings and twinges, with twinkling and twinges, with twinges and twinkling and remembering, and…reminding, and…reminding…reminding…remembering…remembering…reminding…remembering…remembering…remembering…remembering…remembering…remembering…reminding…remembering…reminding…reminding…reminding…remembering…remembering…remembering…remembering…remembering…remembering with twin…) are a moving line. They only have their memories to connect them with their past. As they grow older, they will lose their memories and may even forget their entire past.
