Langston Hughes Harlem

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Using both historical and biographical strategy to analyze “Harlem” by Langston Hughes reveals that the poet’s focus in writing this poem is to provide the reader an examination of the struggles of a black man trying to progress in a close-minded world. Langston Hughes was born in a world that most black people couldn’t tolerate. “His father, contemptuous of racist barriers that kept him from achieving his professional goals, settled in Mexico, where he prospered as a lawyer and landowner” (Bizot). That says a lot about Langston’s father’s character. Because once he was fed up, he ran away from cultural issues. But Hughes did not leave the struggles of being a black man. He decided to further his career in ways that most black people feared. …show more content…

The neighbors are not happy at all about black people moving into the neighborhood. So, they offered to pay the mother’s son, Walter, to not move into the area. Walter was going to give in like any other black man would because the money in those days, spoke volumes. And the situations that the family was facing during this play would finally be solved. In the poem, Hughes asked, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” What he is telling reader is that if dreams are not chased or acted upon, they will eventually die. He continues to push the topic further by comparing a lifeless dream to a sore. This clearly means the seeking of one’s dream gets worse. During an era where black people were still treated less than their worth, it was hard to carry on a dream that no black person ever imagined. Despite all of what black society was enduring, Hughes remained in the fight for a dream, bigger than just one man. “Harlem” referred to not only about black society’s dream, but it was also Hughes dream. He made his first home in Harlem. And amongst the city was a type of music that moved the citizens there. And today, that would translate to

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