Jesse B. Semple is certainly no romantic hero, protest victim or militant leader, no charismatic character for the young to emulate…. Simple reached a wide, appreciative black audience because he appeared in newspapers readily available to black readers, and he reached white readers when Hughes began to publish the tales in book form. What is Simple's appeal? My contention is that the popularity of the tales is based on the narrative technique of the artist; that is, on the artistic devices used by Langston Hughes, a writer who not only knew his medium, but also knew the people whom he addressed through that medium: 1) the sure fire appeal of the skit technique, 2) an apparent artlessness and simplicity in the development of theme and character, 3) reader identification, and 4) the intermittent sound of the blues in prose.

The skit technique, adapted to the demands of the newspaper column, is a natural form for the tales. The oral tradition of the Afro-American was carried on in the vaudeville and burlesque routines which were so popular in the twenties and thirties. Those routines had elements that we also see in the Simple stories: two stand-up comics playing against and to each other, fast paced dialogue and a quick exit. Each of the tales is self-contained and is almost entirely in dialogue; each gives Simple a chance to make some comment, flavored with his unique malapropisms, about the world of Harlem or the world in general. Hughes's persona, Boyd, is the straight man, the foil to Simple's wit, and his educated language is juxtaposed to Simple's Black English, rich in the folk idioms of Harlem. (pp. 68-9)

[Seeming] artlessness in the verbal and situational irony abundant in the tales is also reflected in the development of theme and character. This is belied, however, by the artful way we learn of Simple and of the characters who touch his life…. [In] almost every case, the characters and experiences are filtered through Simple's singular vision. These are tales, after all, not plotted short stories, and there is little description or exposition. We learn of Simple's past and present life from the experiences he shares with us and with Boyd, and of some of the actions as they take place. (p. 70)

Not all of the tales end with the two-line finale, nor are they all of the short-skirt variety; on occasion Simple even waxes eloquent. Nonetheless, the large majority do reflect a deceptive simplicity in theme and character which may in part explain the "seduction" of both black and white readers. (p. 71)

Inherent in Hughes's philosophy, throughout all of his works, is his recognition of, and pride in, the fact that the Afro-American has developed (or perhaps had innately) the ability to endure—to endure not only all of the sorrows to which man is heir, but also all of the racial calumnies devised by white society to defame its black citizens. (p. 72)

If the black reader's identification with Simple's characteristically black experience in America is ultimately successful, how is it possible for the white reader (who may often find himself on the butt end of the joke) to identify positively enough to keep reading? For one thing, the appeal of the "common man" who rises above the exigencies of everyday life is essentially raceless, as are a number of Simple's predicaments with which we identify as though we had been in such situations ourselves. It is our common lot as human beings that we share with Simple. (p. 73)

Hughes also achieves a delicate balance in the satiric view of life reflected in Simple's philosophy. We may hear him rail against such heinous crimes and flagrant injustices as lynchings, segregation, job discrimination and bigotry (of both northern and southern extractions), while at the same time we hear him considering the universal problems of war and peace, death and immortality, love, hate and sympathy…. This is not to assume that Jess B. Semple is anything but a "race man" first; he may ridicule the foibles of black people … but white racism—in all its forms, whether mild or virulent—is the main target for his sharpest criticism. (pp. 73-4)

Simple is in fact one of the Blues People. (p. 74)

There are many kinds of Blues, most of which Hughes fits into categories: family blues, loneliness blues, left-lone-some blues, broke-and-hungry blues and the desperate, going-to-the-river blues…. One important characteristic of the blues, however, is that it was created by a people determined, like Simple, to survive, and one method of survival is humor…. (p. 76)