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The Bean Eaters

by Gwendolyn Brooks

Home Poetry The Bean Eaters Literary Devices Symbols, Imagery, Wordplay

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Symbolism, Imagery, Wordplay
Stacks of Things
Beans

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The Bean Eaters Symbolism, Imagery & Wordplay

There’s more to a poem than meets the eye.

Stacks of Things

In case you missed it, this poem is chock-full of stuff. From plates to silverware to dolls and old clothes, objects seem to play a bigger role in the imagery of this poem than the people, the "bea...

Beans

OK, you knew it was coming. After all, the title of this poem is "The Bean Eaters." It's like Brooks is pointing a big, symbolic finger at beans. In fact, beans become a stand-in for everything tha...