In Langston Hughes’ poem, the author gives us vivid examples of how dreams get lost in the weariness of everyday life. The author uses words like dry, fester, rot, and stink, to give us a picture of how something that was originally intended for good, could end up in defeat. Throughout the play, I was able to feel how each character seemed to have their dreams that fell apart as the story went on. I believe the central theme of the play has everything to do with the pain each character goes thru after losing control of the plans they had in mind. I will attempt to break down each character’s dream and how they each fell apart as the play went on. The first character we meet is Ruth Younger. Ruth is a hardworking mother who has had a thought life up until this point. The Writer opens up describing her by saying that “she was a pretty girl, even exceptionally so, but now it is apparent that life has been little that she expected, and disappointment has already begun to hang in her face.” (Pg. 1472) This description bears a strong resemblance to the line in Harlem, “Does it dry up, like a raison in the sun?” (Line 2) We immediately are thrown into the madness of her life. She wants desperately to have a happy family and is in constant disagreement with her husband’s ideas. We see how her living arrangements have made her believe that there will never be anything better in this world for her. The saddest part is that she believes that bringing another child into this sad existence is something she cannot do. When she makes the decision to visit the abortion doctor, it immediately brought me to the final line in the poem where Hughes states “Or does it explode?” (Line 11) There had to be an explosion of desperation for a w... ... middle of paper ... ...ream was crushed and then “simply explodes” (Line 10) when her son gives the money away to a man that steals it from him. She does get redemption in the end when Walter decides not to buckle to the Welcoming Committee’s request for them to not move into the neighborhood. In the end, we see that the poem Harlem is closely tied to the rash of disappointments that each member of the family faces. The central theme of the poem is tied directly to the family dynamic of the Youngers. Each member is too busy trying to bring happiness to the family in their own way that they forget to actually communicate with themselves in a positive way. Works Cited Hansberry, Lorraine. “A Raison in the Sun.” taken from “The Norton Introduction to Literature (11th ed.) By Mays, Kelli J. (2013) New York: Norton (Pgs. 1471 – 1534) Hughes, Lagston (1951) “Harlem, (A Dream Deffered)”
Through the turbulent decades of the 1920's through the 1960's many of the black Americans went through difficult hardships and found comfort only in dreaming. Those especially who lived in the ghettos' of Harlem would dream about a better place for them, their families, and their futures. Langston Hughes discusses dreams and what they could do in one of his poems, "Harlem." Hughes poem begins: "What happens to a dream deferred..."
(A Comparative Analysis of Harlem Renaissance Poetry) The great philosopher Plato once orated: “Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. PBS defines the Harlem Renaissance a “Cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this period Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars.”
In the poem of Harlem it is very short and precise for a reason which is to make the audience really think thoroughly and to generally show the fact that this poem was depicted during the days of racism. It leaves the readers truly analyzing about a dream to which they may have let get deferred.
It’s clear that Harlem uses several forms of metaphor evenly throughout the poem. Its use of metaphoric images is there in a sense to familiarize the audience with how the author identifies a deferred or put of dream. The use of metaphor helps provides the poem’s structure and gives it a blunt tone. An example of this would be line 4 where he describes the dream as “Fester like a sore” (493). This particular metaphor is blunt because everyone can identify with what a sore is and the negative assumptions associate with sores such as painful, irritable, or even rotten out. Similar to line 4 are lines 10 and 11 where Hughes states, “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load?”(493) giving the audience the impression that a deferred dream can be a burden or weight on a person’s life and maybe interfere with other portions of everyday life. Metaphoric uses like these can be found on e...
The American Dream is defined as “the idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative (American Dream, 2018).” Many struggles through obtaining their dream due to many factors during that time. Everybody has different ideas on how to achieve their dream, some include strikes, peaceful protest, writings, etc. An example of someone's perception of the American dream is shown in Lorraine Hansberry’s play writings. In the play by Lorraine Hansberry (1959); a Raisin in the Sun, starts with an African American family in the 1950s living in Chicago southside. The Youngers were receiving a check for 10,000 dollars for insurance money from the tragedy of big
The idea of the American Dream still has truth in today's time, even if it is wealth, love, or
Similarly, in "Harlem", there is hardly any kind of particular poetic structure. In this poem, there is an underlying tone of racial inequality and injustice. However, Hughes does not portray any kind of comparison in between the Black Americans and White Americans. In the poems of Hughes, there is always the celebration and manifestation of the strength and proudness of his own race (Gates et al. 21-23). Hughes has gone beyond the African American culture in order to present something very relevant for that particular age. Therefore, Langston Hughes is often considered as the best poet of Harlem Renaissance. In "Harlem", there is a representation of the freeway of the writing that clearly allows the poet to discuss the Black identity in more open
Imagine living in a world where you, and people of your color, can not aspire to do great things because of the environmental oppression that surrounds you. Even if you do dare to dream, your great plans will deteriorate, leaving them to rot or even explode. This short poem, written by Langston Hughes, is one of his most famous works. Hughes wrote “Harlem” in 1951, to address the limitations of the American Dream for African Americans. In “Harlem”, Langston Hughes uses the literary devices, imagery and similes to depict the hopes and frustrations of African Americans in the ghetto’s throughout America.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 1829-96. Hughes, Langston. "Dream Deferred." Literature and Its Writers: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Eds. Ann Charters and Samuel Charters. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 1138.
In 1951 Langston Hughes wrote the poem “dreams”. In this poem Langston Hughes is trying to emphasize the importance of having and following your dreams and their ability to empower, strengthen and sustain an individual's life. Through the use of personification, metaphors, and refrains he accomplishes his purpose of showing us a life without dreams is empty.
As Ruth’s mind flashes back to events in her childhood, she begins to understand her mother’s actions were designed to protect her, encourage her, and give her the best in life. ...
On May 9, 1897 John Wesley Fisher and Glendora Williamson Fisher gave birth to their son Rudolph John Chauncey Fisher in Washington D.C. throughout Fishers childhood, he was constantly moving due to the fact that his father was a Baptist Minister. By Fishers father being a minister he moved the family each time he was assigned to a new church. Eventually, Fisher and his family settled in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from Providence’s Classical High School with honors. Four years later in 1919 he graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor Major in English and Biology (Martin, 2003). One year later he also received a Masters from Brown University with honors. During his enrollment at Brown he was recognized for his public speaking
zDreams motivate many Americans in today’s society. Every individual has dreams and targets they wish to attain or accomplish one day. Despite the fact that there are many hopes and dreams, one also has many struggles and battles to fight for race and ethnicity. Langston Hughes wrote his poem “Harlem (Dream Deferred)” during his time of struggle to reflect one of his dreams and passion. Hughes wrote this poem during the Harlem renaissance, a time of African Americans movement and racial pride. Harlem, according to the title of the poem, was a community in New York City; know to have one of the largest African American populations. In “Harlem (A Dream Deferred)”, Langston Hughes uses the literary devices of symbolism, imagery and diction to illustrate what will happen to a “ Dream Deferred” and the damage that will occur when one`s dream is set aside and the human mind is aggravated.
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly” said Langston Hugh. He wrote this to address the importance of following your dreams because once you stop working hard for the dream, it dies and leaves you heartbroken. In his poem, “Harlem”, Hugh criticizes the consequences of what might happen if dreams are put on hold. His poem include a lot of poetic elements such as simile, personification, diction, rhetorical question etc. Hugh uses simile to compare a dream to different things to portray the aftermath of a delayed dream.
In our journey through life, we all have certain expectations of how we would like our lives to be. All of us strive to reach a certain level of self-actulization and acceptance. It could thus be said that all of us live a dream. Some of these individual dreams inevitably become the collective dream of many people. In "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)", Langston Hughes makes use of symbolism as well as powerful sensory imagery to show us the emotions that he and his people go through in their quest for freedom and equality. By using questions he builds the poem towards an exciting climax.