Dream Deferred By Langston Hughes

‘’What happens to a dream deferred?’’ (1) seems to be not a very difficult question. However, this poem makes the reader to actually wonder and think about it. The author of the poem, Langston Hughes, also wonders by asking this question. Although, each person in this world has his own dream and some people even might have similar ones, not every single dream gets to be realized due to different circumstances, obstacles and environmental conditions, and therefore they remain unaccomplished. But what happens to those dreams with time and how a person feels about not achieving them? To these two questions the speaker is trying to find the answers in terms of the African-American population of the United States of America. The African-Americans
First, it might seem like the speaker of the poem tries to figure out what happens to the dreams which get postponed, however, the title ‘’Harlem’’ sheds light on the whole theme of the poem. Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City, which is also a major residence of the African-American people. It was a prospering place foe them until the Great Depression and the World War II after what the significant problems had started. Langston Hughes uses a lot of similes in this poem. He compares the dreams to different common and familiar things in order to provide the reader with the images. For instance, in the lines ‘’does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?’’ (2-3), he gives an image of a raisin, which dries up in the sun. The raisin is already a dried grape, so if it gets even more dry than usual, it would be impossible to eat it, because of how hard the raisin would
For example, in the lines ‘’Does it stink like rotten meat? / Or crust and sugar over - / like a syrupy sweet?’’ (6-8) those senses are used. In the first situation the author tries to show the disgusting smell of a rotten spoiled meat and compare it to the dreams, which would always remind about themselves. It is very difficult to get rid of such a strong smell, so it will follow a person and spoil his attitude and confidence. Verses how in the second situation, the author implies that the dream could be getting ready for a person to accomplish it, comparing it to the sugary crust that takes time to get ready. The dream of being equal and having no discrimination based on race is a heavy burden for African-Americans due to the segregation that comes from the white American community. The line ‘’Maybe it just sags / like a heavy load.’’ (9-10) tells the reader that it is very challenging and demanding for the African-American society to get through all the discrimination and inequality. Therefore, their dreams can sink or band downward by the weight of their burden and the pressure of the racial