ever present throughout the book. This is the issue of the writer wondering why it is considered better to be white. She is not only frustrated because this problem exists, but also that blacks allow it to perpetuate by playing into the white mentality and forcing themselves into a white society, rather than being content with the black subculture that already exists. Whenever Brooks goes into detail about any situation or emotion it is always in terms of color. This is especially the case in the verse entitled, Spring Landscape.Brooks used the story of Maud Martha to convey her own feelings about a society driven by race. Her implications using not only the color of our skin, but also the color in our surroundings show how she feels that our society in dominated by whites and there is nothing that a black person can do about it. This became evident when she went to the Royal Playhouse and realized that other than her and Paul were the only white people in the place. The story tells how when the lights were out was the only time that they were equal to the white people that surrounded them, but when the lights came on they would be seen for what they really are, black. This story is one that illustrates her strongest point. It is almost as though Brooks uses the theatre as a symbol of the world and Martha and Paul are a few black people swimming in a sea of white people and wanting more than anything to just not stay afloat, but to swim.The issues in Maud Martha are issues that unfortunately still exist today. There are still many issues that deal with race. They are underlying issues not only in society but in Brooks’ writing as well. Brooks uses these issues in her writing to convey her own feelings of frustration towards the colorism that exists in regards to race and culture. Through her depictions in Maud Martha, one might conclude that despite her prestige as a writer, Brooks is not proud of the black culture. ...
