Ballad of the Landlord Group

Question:

vijay65
vijay65
Teacher

In the poem "Ballad of the Landlord" by Langston Hughes, how much money does the tenant propose to pay the landlord?

Ten Bucks you say I owe you?
Ten Bucks you say is due?
Well, that's Ten Bucks more'n I'l pay you
Till you fix this house up new.

I would like the answer with respect to these lines. This is because, some teachers at the college I teach say the tenant owes the landlord 10, 20, and 30 dollars. So far, only one teacher says that the tenant does not propose to pay the monthly rent of 10 dollars to the landlord till the latter repairs the roof and the steps.

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Posted by vijay65 on Wednesday April 1, 2009 at 10:35 AM and tagged with analysis, ballad of the landlord, interpretation, meaning, themes.

Answers:


  1. linda-allen Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    The speaker isn't going to pay the landlord one cent until repairs are made to his dilapidated house. When he says, "Ten Bucks you say I owe you?/ Ten Bucks you say is due?" he means that his rent is ten dollars. But he's not going to pay it: "Well, that's Ten Buck more'n I'll pay you/ Till you fix this house up new." He'd rather face eviction than pay to live in a rat hole.

    See the eNotes study guide (linked below) for a full analysis of the poem. As for your second question, that should be asked on the discussion board because you are asking for an opinion. Personally, I don't see any reason not to teach the poem in an ESL class unless the teacher was using it to make a statement about a certain group of people.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/ballad-landlord-salem

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    Posted by linda-allen on Wednesday April 1, 2009 at 11:50 AM

  2. mrdz23
    mrdz23 Student
    College - Junior

    in this the tenant says that the landlord tells that the tenant owes him 10 bucks and the tenant is also ready to pay this along with 10 more bucks if the landlord fixes his roof and stairs but is not ready to pay even a cent untill his house is repaired

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    Posted by mrdz23 on Wednesday September 23, 2009 at 7:29 AM