Student Question
Who is the speaker in "We Real Cool?"
Quick answer:
The speaker in "We Real Cool" is not a specific individual but represents a group of young African-American men. These are the "seven pool players" at the Golden Shovel, reflecting a lifestyle marked by dropping out of school, engaging in potentially criminal activities, and living in a poor neighborhood. The poem comments on the destructive choices made by these young men, which often lead to an early death, symbolizing the broader challenges faced by young black men in America.
The subtitle of the poem is "The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel." I believe the speakers of the poem are the seven pool players of the poem. These young men have no sense of purpose in their lives, and each day is like the one before. They spend their days shooting pool, drinking, and staying out late. They have dropped out of school and live in a poor neighborhood where their lives are like many of the other young, black men in their community. Words such as "lurk" and "strike" suggest they must engage in criminal activities to support themselves and also support the belief they will die at a young age. These seven young men do represent the plight of young, black men in cities across America during the time.
I have included a link below that might further help you to understand the poem.
In my opinion, the speaker in this poem is not any particular person -- it is not someone that we can name. Instead, the speaker in the poem is meant to be someone who represents a certain group of people.
The whole point of the poem is that some young African-American men are making choices that are destructive. They do things like not going to school, things that make them end up dying young. So the speaker is just a representative of that group of young men.
So I would answer this by saying that the speaker is not a specific individual but rather a "person" who is meant to be the representative of a whole group on whose lives the poet is commenting.
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