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In the ballad of Rudolph Reed, the author introduces an African American man and his family. The author describes the man as a humble man who wants a home for his family. Rudolph Reed says, “Oh my home may have its east or west or north or south behind it. All I know is I shall know it and fight for it when I find it” (Line 17-21). The part “All I know is I shall know it and fight for it when I find it” demonstrates that Rudolph Reed is a heroic man. The author does this by showing his goal is to improve the well-being of his family. The author uses repetition of the word “it” to emphasizes Rudolph’s desire to find a home for his family.

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In the Ballad of Rudolph Reed, the author, Gwendolyn Brooks, introduces Rudolph Reed as a hardworking oaken family man, who does not want food and only wishes for a nice family home for him and his family. The author describes Rudolph’s ambitions for him and his family by saying “I am not hungry for bread. But hungry hungry for a house where a night a man in bed (lines 6-8)”. The repetition of the word hungry emphasizes that Rudolph yearns only for better living conditions for his family. This portrays that Rudolph has a void of hunger that can only be fulfilled by establishing a safe home for his family.

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At night, Rudolph Reed’s neighbors result to violence by throwing a large rock, and then the next night a larger rock. The third night it got worse. Brooks writes, “The third night, a silvery ring of glass/Patience ached to endure” (46-47). Brooks illustrates the violence in the neighborhood by emphasizing patience. The violence of the neighbors highlights the racist hatred in their communities and contrasts the calm feeling of patience. The personification of patience accompanied with the word ached evokes feelings of sadness and pain. Staying patient with neighbors causes the reader to be fearful of the consequences and what happens next.

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A family man named Rudolph Reed is determined to provide his family with a nice house so they could have a good life. Rudolph Reed States, ‘ I am not hungry for berries/ I am not hungry for bread./ But hungry for a house (lines 5-7). This demonstrates his ambition for providing a house for his family. In this quote the author uses repetition to emphasize Rudolph’s determination to get a house and how he refuses to rest and stop looking for one, which shows his heroic qualities by putting others’ needs before his own needs.

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The poem begins by introducing Rudolph Reed and his beloved family. Gwendolyn Brooks describes the Reed family as to be “oakened” which illustrates that they have a darker complexion. The poem then emphasizes how the Reed family is longing to move out of their broken down house into a new and grand house. Rudolph Reed states “I am not hungry for bread. But hungry hungry for a house”(Line 6-7). By expressing that his hunger is not for bread it emphasizes that it is not a literal hunger, but rather a figurative hunger. It is then depicted that the figurative hunger is for a house by stating “But hungry hungry for a house.” The Reed family is instead starving for a house. By using the repetition of hungry it emphasizes how much they not only want but need a new house.  Rudolph Reed desperately wants to move his family out to a new house as stated by “never hear the plaster...[and]....roaches.” He therefore wants to work hard to meet his goal. This depicts Rudolph Reed as an ambitious man who desires to move his family into a new house to fulfill his idea of the American dream.

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Once the Reed family moved into their new house, they were greeted with violence from the neighborhood due to their race. Their neighbors threw large rocks through their windows every night, but Rudolph Reed did not react in anger.  However, on the third night an unknown object flew through the window and grazed his daughter’s head. The speaker states, “Patience ached to endure./But he looked, and lo! Small Mabel’s blood/was staining her gaze so pure.” (48-50). The use of foreshadowing proves the tragedy that Rudolph Reed tried to live peacefully, but after seeing his daughters bloody gaze, he couldn’t live with that anymore. The use of the word “ached” to describe his patience further exemplifies Rudolph Reed’s peacefulness, because it demonstrates that he deeply desired to not react in anger. It was only until he saw his daughters blood, that he became angry. The shift in tone of Rudolph's perspective in this part of the poem from hopeful to distress, further highlights how Rudolph was a nonviolent man, and it was only until his daughter was hurt that he turned to violence.

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In “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed,” the main character works hard to provide for his family. His old house was in shambles, leading him to want a new one. Rudolph Reed is described as, “hungry hungry for a house/where at night a man in bed/May never hear the plaster stir as if in pain,” (7-10). Rudolph Reed wants the best for his family, who has been living in poverty. The use of “hungry” emphasizes the need for a house that will prevent his family from suffering. His emotions are compared to being hungry, where you have to fulfill that desire or else one will die. His desire for a house is portrayed as necessary and urgent, as if without it he would perish.

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In the ballad Rudolph Reed, the author Gwendolyn Brooks introduces Rudolph Reed as a innocent oaken man facing his hostile and violent white neighbors. Rudolph Reed’s confronted with the real-estate agent to purchase a home for his wife and three children.  However it was in a white neighborhood and the Reeds were darker skinned. The text shows, “A neighbor would look with a yawning eye that squeezed into a slit. But the Rudolph Reeds and the children three were to joyous to notice it” (lines 33-36). The yawning eye creates a suspicious tone thus demonstrating the hatred and violence of the racist white neighbors. The quote displays the untrusting thoughts of the white people towards the darks. The use of personification of yawning eye emphasizes how the neighbors have a wide eye, observing all of the Reeds actions.

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At the end of the poem “Rudolph Reed”, the speaker talks about Rudolph Reed’s daughter, Mabel. Earlier in the poem she had been injured by a bullet that shattered a window in their home. After she was injured, Rudolph Reed went out and attacked the people who hurt her, getting himself killed. While Mabel’s mother tends to her wounds, the speaker says that, “Small Mabel whimpered all night long, for calling herself the cause”(lines 59 - 60). In this quote, the speaker describes how Mabel was afraid because she thought that the violence that killed her father was her fault. By showing how Mabel’s fear was a direct result of the violence towards her father, the speaker creates a sense of tragedy by showing how violence has negative outcomes, and can make people scared and injured, or even possibly dead.

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Before these lines Rudolph reeds daughter had been cut by a shard of glass due to progressive violence and racism in the predominantly white neighborhood. Rudolph Reed was furious with how his daughter got hurt so he does as described in the poem “he ran like a mad thing into the night and the words in his mouth were stinking.” The use of the phrase “mad thing” creates a dark and intense mood. By depicting Rudolph Reed this way it heightens the dehumanisation of him further demonstrating the prominent theme of tragic inequality  even in a “equal” country.

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Rudolph Reed, regardless, of his skin tone, was bold enough to purchase a house in a white neighborhood. Brooks writes, “it was in a street of bitter white/ that he made his application For Rudolph Reed was oakener/ Than others in the nations” (Lines 21-24). This quote portrays Reeds bravery to live in a white neighborhood, even though he is black. The use of “street of bitter white” emphasizes the hostility of being a black man surrounded by a bunch of white people.

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In the Ballad of Rudolph Reed, the author Gwendolyn Brooks, expresses how Rudolph Reed wants to find a new home for his family, because of his home’s past condition. The speaker describes Rudolph Reed’s home as “May never hear the plaster stir as if in pain. May never hear the roaches falling like fat rain” (line 9-12). Using “may never hear the roaches falling like fat rain” creates an image of how his old home was in an deteriorating state due to the large amount of roaches. This reinforces the idea Rudolph Reed is a family man because of his ambition for a change and making his family a top priority.

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After the Reeds move into their home, the racist community in which they live react to their presence with violence. Brooks describes Reed’s reaction before Mabel gets shot by writing, “But nary a curse cursed Rudolph Reed (though oaken as a man could be)” (lines 40-44). Reed is not shaken by the violent racism displayed by his community, and this demonstrates Reed’s heroic character, unfazed by feelings of racism and still hoping to achieve the American Dream. In addition, the word “oaken” connotes peace, which accurately describes Reed. Often, trees are cut down, just like Reed, who initially meant no harm, was harassed and eventually killed.

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Rudolph Reed describes his current living situations and his desire for a home with better living conditions, He states, “Where never wife and children need go blinking through the gloom”, (13,14). The speakers use of the phrase “go blinking through the gloom”, illustrates their family’s current home situation in which they lack light in their home and life. The use of the word “gloom” evokes the darkness within his home and the tragic conditions he and his family is forced into living in.

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After Rudolph Reed and his family moved into the new neighborhood, they were treated violently due to their race. As the violence escalates his family is victim to the racial hostility. On the the third night in the new neighborhood Rudolph’s daughter, Mabel, is cut by a piece of glass due to the violence of their neighbors. The speaker describes, “small Mable’s blood was staining her gaze so pure” (lines 47-48). The speaker creates a shocked mood by contrasting the innocence in Mabel’s “gaze so pure” and the horror of “small Mable’s blood.” This sharp contrast demonstrates how Rudolph Reed feels shocked as the escalating violence has now harmed his daughter. The phrase about Mabel’s “gaze so pure” connotes the innocence of Mabel and her family who haven’t done anything wrong but are victims to the hostility and racism that exists in their neighborhood. This further shows the tragic effects that racism has on innocent and hopeful people like Rudolph Reed and his family as they do ordinary things like buy a new house that in a perfect world should not cause violence.