A Detailed Analysis of Gwendolyn Brooks's Poem: Beverly Hills, Chicago

This essay offers a comprehensive analysis of Gwendolyn Brooks's poem 'Beverly Hills, Chicago.' It begins with background information on the poet and the poem's context, including its appearance in the collection 'Annie Allen'. The essay explores the poem's central theme of social disparity within Chicago's affluent society, as depicted through the lens of the speaker. It delves into the poem's imagery, particularly the recurring symbol of gold, and discusses the speaker's perspective and the poem's intended audience. The analysis covers the poem's use of literary devices, the speaker's voice, and the poem's impact. The essay also includes a personal response to the poem, discussing its strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, it examines the poem's poetic elements such as narrative and descriptive styles and rhyming patterns. The essay draws upon academic sources to support its claims, concluding with an assessment of Brooks's poetic skill in portraying societal inconsistencies through nuanced imagery and powerful language.

Running head: BEVERLY HILLS, CHICAGO
Beverley Hills, Chicago
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

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Beverly Hills, Chicago is a poem written by Gwendolyn Brooks. The poem appeared for
the very first time in 1949 in Annie Allen which is a collection of poetry written by Brooks. The
poem centers around a scene from the affluent societal picture in Chicago. The place is inhabited
by affluent people and is commonly known as Beverly Hills. In the poem, the place which is
described and talked about is dominated by the white population (Gill). The paper would discuss
the poem and its subject at length.
Gwendolyn Brooks moved to Chicago and was born in 1917 (Kent). She was one of the
most admired writers in Chicago. Even to this day, her works, contributions and achievements
are celebrated through public events and memorials as they have touched peoples’ lives and
inspired generations. She is the first black poet to have received Pulitzer for her famous book
Annie Allen in 1950 (Jackson). Her literary career has been quite long and is marked by several
developments and shifts. Her poems primarily focused on to depict the condition of the lives of
blacks and the complexities lived by them in Chicago (Gill). She felt their plight most sincerely
and articulated them with her poetic voice which moved the world quite intensely.
One of the poems from Annie Hills which has caught the attention of the readers and
critiques is Beverly Hills, Chicago. The speaker in the poem engages in the act of imagining how
the residents of the people do through their days. It suggest that the lives of the people unfurl
quite easily as going to Tea, as has been mentioned in the poem. Brooks tries to depict a class
and the disparity it has with the others in society (Gill). Brooks has employed her wit and
wisdom to depict the class from a wide lens view rather than projecting picture of just a single
community.
The speaker in the poem highlights the social difference of classes in lines such as “But it
is only natural that we should think we have not enough,”. In the line, the author tries to depict

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the binaries by suggesting that we, who are less privileged to have lesser access to amenities as
compared to the residents of Beverly Hills. This signifies a sense of longing which is felt by the
socially backward classes as they do not possess or afford the things which are owned and lived
by the people in Beverly Hills (Gill). The author brutally puts the longing as a way of life for the
people living in the neighboring areas. The shame of not having these amenities have been
articulated by Brooks extraordinarily in the poem. It is a feeling which the neighbors get
intuitively when they as they are aware, deep down, that those are things which they cannot even
touch. Brooks bridges the gap which lies in between the privileged class and the lesser privileged
ones and makes it perceptible (Nash).
The speaker, in the poem explain what are seen while driving past Beverly Hills, Chicago
as a person who is neither a white nor someone who belongs to the affluent class of the society.
Moreover, the speaker highlights the differences which are apparent between the two such as the
depiction of the neighborhood (Gill). The speaker through provokingly expresses that the
privileges which the residents of Beverly Hills enjoy are not experienced and lived by the people
in neighboring places (Gale). This brings out the disparities which exist between the two worlds
which have been contrasted by the author in the poem.
The work is brilliant as the author present the disparity from a moral point as she asserts
that the affluent class have no monopoly on the morality much as the poor as they do not have
syndicate on wrongdoing. She tries to dismantle the differences and stereotypes which exist
within the society between the wealthier class and the poor in a very strong way (Jackson).
Brooks tries to assert that money is a strong determinant in the society as they can even “make
excellent corpses, among the expensive flowers...” There is a recurring symbol of Gold in
Beverly Hills, Chicago which symbolizes wealth of the residents which is representative of their

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lives and is self-perpetuating. "The dry brown coughing beneath their feet" is in stark contrast
with the "golden gardens" which brings out the irony of the society.
Thus, it can be concluded by saying that Brooks has depicted the inconsistence within
society with her illustration of communities by employing powerful poetic skills and little yet
significant nuances. She abstains from presenting harsh opinions yet presents a contrasting
picture of the same for the readers to interpret.

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References
Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Gwendolyn Brooks's" The Explorer". Gale, Cengage
Learning, 2016.
Jackson, Major. "Anatomy of a Pulitzer Prize letter: a close look at the letter recommending
Gwendolyn Brooks as the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in 1950 reveals more than just the
reigning aesthetics of that period." Poets & Writers Magazine 45.3 (2017): 37-44.
Kent, George. A Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. University Press of Kentucky, 2015.
Nash, William R. "Brooks, Gwendolyn." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature. 2017.
Gill, Jo. "Gwendolyn Brooks and the Legacies of Architectural Modernity." Humanities 8.4
(2019): 167.