Language

Simple, who is not highly educated, uses a colloquial English with slang words and grammatical errors:  “I just want to know how come Adam and Eve was white.” (p. 127, l. 7). The narrator, who is more educated, use a more formal and complex language: “ ‘So, my dear fellow, I trust you will not let your rather late arrival on our contemporary stage distort your perspective.’” (p. 128, ll. 38-40)

The choice of words in “Tales of Simple: Temptation” by Langston Hughes is related to religion and American society in the early 1960s. There are allusions to events from the biblical story of Genesis as well as to American religious figures:

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Similes and metaphors

Only a small number of similes and metaphors are used in the text. The author uses comparisons such as “anybody like me” (p. 128, ll. 11-12) or “nobody looked like you” (p. 128, l. 13)...

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Repetition

Repetitions are used frequently to give readers the impression of a genuine, real-life dialogue. Often, the characters repeat each other’s lines to suggest the process it takes to understand one another:

 ‘…what I want to know is where was us colored people?’ ” (p. 126, ll. 1-2)

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Symbols

The story is filled with religious symbolism, as the two characters discuss the differences between black people and white people, from a religious standpoint.

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