A Dream Deferred essay

I remember reading a poem a few years ago. It was very thought-provoking. The poem was called Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes. Hughes paints a picture of what might happen to a dream if it is postponed for too long. This idea is the overall theme of the poem and it is what unifies and connects the poem as a whole. It provides a series of answers to the question, “What happens to a dream deffered?” The lines that follow the first question are presented as different similes.

He wonders if these postponed dreams dry up like a raisin in the sun. He wonders if they fester like sores, or if they rot like meat, get all crusty and sugary all over, or if it sags like a heavy load. Finally, he wonders whether they explode if they are deferred. This makes us wonder if that is the answer to his question. All these sentences show a negative outcome. This shows that Hughes' view on deffering dreams is not too positive.

All these suggested answers seem quite unsual. But I believe that this makes the reader think about what happens to a dream when you put it aside for an uncertain amount of time. It makes readers think outside the box and broaden their horizons. It doesn't just simply give you boring straight-foward answers. It provides creativity and exagerration to the importance of dreams.

I think that this poem is not refering to the dreams you have when you are asleep, but rather the goals you set out for yourself to achieve and acomplish. When I first read this poem myself, I thought that he was talking about the actual dreams you have when you sleep, which led me to think that this poem was about sleep deprivation. It turns out that it is really about your ambitions. However, this poem is quite vague, as you can interpret it in as many ways you want. This poem is not meant to decide or assign a dream for the reader, but it leaves it up to them to decide what they feel is important to them.

I feel that this poem is very intricately woven and pieced together. Hughes uses comparisons in every line to reinforce and emphasize the main theme of the poem. Not to mention, the indirect references definetley added to the overall complexity of the poem. I think that the reason he wrote this poem was to inspire people to chase their dreams and not just push them aside like trash.