We Real Cool (Themes)

Themes

Appearance Vs. Reality

Most assessments about the pool players in “We Real Cool” fall somewhere between the following two extremes: the players are cool or they are worthy of pity. The players are arguably cool because they had the nerve to drop out of school, perhaps have refused to work, because they drink (and might be underage), and because they engage in activities that are frowned upon or forbidden. In addition, and perhaps most important, the players are cool because they are fearless — unafraid of telling the truth (they are “straight shooters”) and facing the dangers that those who “sing sin” could encounter. If we accept this evaluation, the poem functions as a boast all the way through its last line, making the players cooler still. Conversely, these players can be viewed as deserving pity because they seem to be trying to boost their self-esteem by placing high value on meaningless activities. There is the sense that they are trying to forget their socioeconomic circumstances by drinking and playing games. In this way, they embrace the attitudes and activities that will only compound their plight. They have given up on means of advancement, such as education. Dying soon would not so much be tragic, but a way of escaping a harsh reality.

These are the extremes of perception — of appearance — that the pool players would have to struggle with and could not help but internalize. Their response might be to “shoot straight”: to those to whom they appear romantically rebellious, they might say that theirs is actually a life of confusion, fear, anger, and alienation. “We Real Cool,” then, is a cautionary tale for those who would think them cool. But to those who would condemn them, the players’ response might again be to shoot straight: “At least we haven’t been suckered into buying into a system that may not even reward us if we work hard and follow the rules.” In this case, “We Real Cool” is a defiant response to those who would condemn them out of hand and who unthinkingly accept the status quo.

Free Will and Chance

The last statement of this poem, “We / Die soon,” raises the question of whether these pool players have any control over their lives or if they are simply characters who will succumb to a predetermined fate. People often refer to “the luck of the draw” to describe a situation that is the result of chance; in this case, the pool players were born into a set of circumstances over which they had no control. Because they are not adults, they have no way of affecting their socioeconomic status. The players, however, show free will in that they choose to skip school, “Lurk late,” and “Sing sin.” Free will involves taking responsibility for one’s own action, and by making what many would see as negative choices — foregoing education and instead playing — they effectively have decided give up on their future and risk their safety by hanging around dangerous people and areas. Someone with a fatalistic viewpoint, though, would argue that it wouldn’t matter what choices the players made — any path they took would lead to the same place. This, then, is the difficult problem this poem tries to solve: to keep the reader from simply pronouncing the pool players either guilty (with free will) or innocent (subject to fate or chance).

Topics for Further Study

• Conduct a research project on school desegregation in the 1950s, either by state or part of the country.
• Analyze the game of pool in terms of its history and sociology. Explain how pool came to be associated with the urban underclass and under-belly.
• Research the life expectancies of black youths versus white youths. Account for differences with research, or, in lieu of research, hypotheses.