Langston Hughes Shermerville Analysis

The make-believe town of Shermer where many of Hughes’s stories take place symbolizes the era of post-world war II America. Hughes’s forged town of Shermer mimicked the town he grew up in, Northbrook, Illinois. Like Northbrooke, Shermer is similarly located in the suburbs of Chicago. Shermer encompassed different socioeconomic classes, which in turn produced different types of kids. Hughes wanted to create this imaginary place to demonstrate the dichotomy of people and their situations after the World War II era. Thus, Hughes’s Shermerville was an essential part of his films because it created a scenario where kids from all different backgrounds had the opportunity to come together and realize that they weren’t so different after all.