Analysis of Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes
Dreams are the driving force of America today. Every person has some sort of dreams and or goals. Although in life everyone has dreams and goals, there are obviously more struggles for some ethnic groups than for others. The poem, "Dream Deferred," by Langston Hughes, is one man's expression of his dreams during a difficult time period.
As a black man in a time period where African-Americans were considered an inferior group of people,dreams and goals would have been difficult to realize. Langston Hughes aptly expresses his frustrations in his poem, "Dream Deferred." As people read this poem, in any time period, they can relate to the simple universal message that the poet expressed. Hughes is very expressive in how he feels about dreams he has had and the fact and his frustration at not being able to pursue and/or fulfill those dreams that he is unable to pursue or fulfill those dreams.
In his poem, Hughes asks the reader to think by posing the question, ?What happens to a dream deferred??(1). This first li...
Langston Hughes was an African American poet who emerged during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance strongly influenced most of Langston Hughes’s writing. In such works as “Dream”, “Still Here”, “Dream Deferred”, and “Justice” you see the clear messages that are trying to be voiced through his work.
The American Dream was just that for that for some of the Blacks who were struggling or living in New York during the Harlem Renaissance. Living the “American Dream” was something most thought they would never see or have the pleasure to enjoy. Working a good job, being treating fairly and being able to own a nice house and buy nice things was all a dream that they believed would never become a reality. One could say those were the thoughts of the Blacks who didn't have faith or hope or the drive to make the “American Dream” their reality. And this is because Black was thought so little of. They were thought to be ugly and worthless and inferior to the “Americans”. With this constant negative reminder, it was easy for Blacks to self-hate or to hate someone of the same race but a darker shade or of a different social class. However all Blacks did not feel that way. For instance, writers like Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston and Elise Johnson McDougald knew that better days were coming and they too would be able to do the things the Whites thought they were not worthy of. They loved the skin that there were in and was not going to allow anyone to tell them otherwise. These three writers along with others believed that change was coming and their prayers and cries would soon be answered. Their struggling and fighting would soon all be worth it and the Blacks who came before them and fought to get them where they currently were would have not died in vain. Langston Hughes expresses this in his poem Let America Be America Again.
Langston Hughes is a key figure in the vision of the American dream. In his writings his African-American perspective gives an accurate vision of what the American dream means to a less fortunate minority. His poetry is very loud and emotional in conveying his idea of the African-American dream. Most of his poetry either states how the black man is being surpressed or is a wish, a plea for equality. He does not want the black man to be better than everyone else, but just to be treated equal. Able to meet their dream with the same level of success and failure as everyone else.
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..."
In Langston Hughes’ poem, A Dream Deferred, Hughes wonders what happens to a dream that does not come true. He writes, “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?” In A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, Walter shows that his deferred dream does both. Early in the play, he shares his hopes and dreams for his family and their future with his young son, Travis. He imagines that earning his fortune will cure all the shortcomings and injustices in their lives. The limitations of Walter’s aspirations for himself and his family undermine his ability to save his family. Walter’s acceptance of unjust systems, which makes one man “master” and another one “servant,” compromises the power of Walter’s dream. By showing that Walter has internalized this corrupt system, Hansberry illustrates that his dream will not bring Walter or his family happiness.
All Langston Hughes ever wanted was for people to have their dreams accomplished and the motivation to bring change forward. However, Hughes’ dreams almost came tumbling down for speaking out in one of his poems like he typically does. In 1940, Hughes had been investigated by the FBI following the release of his poem “Goodbye Christ”. Numerous accusations had arisen, stating Hughes “…[was a] member of the Communist Party, [ran] for public office, called for a race war, married a white woman, and studied Communism in the U.S.S.R.” (Dyson, p. 45, 2002). Although it looked as if Hughes’s days with the rest of society were numbered, Hughes made sure that his dreams were not forgotten. Hughes continued to write poetry during this difficult time period which included his poem “A Dream Deferred”. Hughes realized that when he wrote this poem, it had to be worded in a way that would get his message across while not raising any red flags. Even though his poem would get published, the publishers who helped Hughes had gotten fired (Miller, n.p., 2012). When Hughes was ordered to appear before the Committee of Un-American Activities in 1953, he looked to ensure that he would not end up in jail without abandoning his ideals. Hughes then released a statement regarding himself and his poetry saying that he believes “‘…in an America that changes as Americans want it to change’” which is exactly what is reflected in “A Dream Deferred” (Dyson, p. 45, 2002). When looking into the past events Hughes encountered prior to “A Dream Deferred” being published, it is evident that one can see the importance of pursuing dreams. People will try to get in the way of achieving dreams, whether it be Hughes’s, Harlem’s, of the African-American communit...
As a writer, a poet and a prominent activist of the civil rights movement, Langston Hughes was a man that was not only inspired by the world around him but used such inspiration to motivate others. Being that he was also one of the most influential writers during the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes held poetry demonstrations as a way to inspire and strived to be the voice of his people and the force to help the dreams of many to move forward. The idea of whether or not to pursue a dream is addressed in one of his poems where he asks “What happens to a dream deferred?” (Langston Hughes, Dreams Deferred). The style of writing in this poem takes the use of questions as a way to have the reader really ponder about a dream that is not pursued. In a sense, Hughes is trying to paint the picture that the dreams that people do not fight for eventually fade away. He uses this as a tactic to hopefully inspire others that dreams are worth fighting for and without them, what would we live for? The underlying tie that connected all of Hughes’s work together was achieved through his devotion to the realization of a certain dream deferr...
With great dreams comes great sacrifices and the ultimate sacrifice is putting that dream on hold. There are many situations that get in the way that force individuals to step away from their dreams and take care of their personal issues. Everyone has the aspiration to fulfill their dreams, but sometimes dreams are set aside for various reason, and some people never return to continue fulfillment. In the poem Harlem, Hughes writes, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” (Hughes). One of the many sacrifices when in search of the American Dream or any dream in general is the potential of it being put off. Like Langston Hughes says, the dream may dry up like a raisin in the sun, but in actuality the dream is never lost, the remnants are still there. It is simply set aside so when the time is right to continue on with the dream the individual can pick up where they left off. As the dream sits on hold it loses its importance, or it dries up. Putting off a dream is one of the biggest sacrifices someone could make no matter the circumstance. People are sacrificing what their lives could have potentially been. Hughes talks about all of the feelings that come with putting off a dream and describes what could potentially happen to a differed dream. Ultimately, the poem is about the sacrifice of giving up this American Dream and choosing a different
What is a dream deferred? Is it something children imagine and lose as they grow up. Do dreams ever die, as we find out, the world is it what it seems. The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Harlem by Langston Hughes talk about dreams deferred. It shows a African American family struggling to make their dreams a reality. Although Walter, Ruth, Mama, and Beneatha live in the same house, their dreams are all different from each other.
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement during the 1920s and 1930s, in which African-American art, music and literature flourished. It was significant in many ways, one, because of its success in destroying racist stereotypes and two, to help African-Americans convey their hard lives and the prejudice they experienced. In this era, two distinguished poets are Langston Hughes, who wrote the poem “A Dream Deferred” and Georgia Douglas Johnson who wrote “My Little Dreams”. These two poems address the delayment of justice, but explore it differently, through their dissimilar uses of imagery, tone and diction.
A dream is a deep ambition and desire for something; everybody tries to reach their dreams no matter how far away they may seem. The characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s stories strive for nothing less than “The Great American Dream”. This is the need to be the best of the best, top of the social ladder, and to be happier and more successful than anyone has been before. Fitzgerald writes about this American Dream that every character has but can never achieve; the dream is kept unattainable due to obstacles, the disadvantages of being low on the social ladder, and also the restrictions of having a high social status.
To answer the initial question, the speaker poses six additional questions. The six questions that are asked also have indefinite answers, but the speaker uses imagery to suggest the impression of the dream deferred. These images are the raisins, festered sores, rotten meat, sweet syrup and explosion. Along with these objects being described with a state of decay, the dream is portrayed similarly. The words, such as "drying up," "fester," "stink," and "sags" summarize the sour and sad tone of the dream. These images and tones represent the speaker's viewpoint of the deferred dream and Harlem.
Langston Hughes was an activist for the African-American community and made significant artistic contributions to the Harlem Renaissance throughout his career. In one of his most famous poems, “Harlem [Dream Deferred]”, he addresses the limitations and oppression of African Americans after the Great Depression. Many African Americans dreamed of equality, but often times that dream became neglected and pushed aside. In his poem, Hughes responds to a question about a deferred dream with a series of vivid similes, inquiring what happens to a constantly ignored dream.
“Harlem” by Langston Hughes is a poem that talks about what happens when we postpones our dreams. The poem is made up of a series of similes and it ends with a metaphor. The objective of the poem is to get us to think about what happens to a dream that is put off, postponed; what happens when we create our very own shelve of dreams? The “dream” refers to a goal in life, not the dreams we have while sleeping, but our deepest desires. There are many ways to understand this poem; it varies from person to person. Some may see this poem as talking about just dreams in general. Others may see it as African-American’s dreams.
Langston Hughes’s poem “I Dream A World” grants a voice to any person, who has been exposed to a life in racial prejudice and inequality, including the writer. That voice belongs to any black person, who has lived the poorer than poor life. This life was full of consistent violation of basic human rights, full of frustration, and overflowing with hopelessness. Upon closer examination, the situation of the poem uncovers the painstakingly raw yearning for humanity and equality.