“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.
The reason I say African American’s dreams is because the author published this poem in 1951, the time period where there was much racism and civil rights violations against African Americans. Another reason is that the author is an African American himself. Finally, the biggest reason is that the author named the poem “Harlem.” Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, long known as a major African-American cultural and business center. It was associated for much of the twentieth century with black culture, crime and poverty. It is the capital of African-American life in the United States. The author named this poem “Harlem” because he was addressing mainly the black community. Still, the poem’s message is very clear: if one postpones his/her dream(s) it can have a damaging affects.
People always say that first impressions are very important and what people remember most because it is usually what makes one like or dislike someone or something. This poem aids that saying. The first time I read this poem, the first line caught my attention right away: “What happens to a dream deferred?” ...
... middle of paper ...
...permitted to accomplish his/her dreams and loses all hope he/she may commit something horrible.
One’s dream or goal is critical in what makes a person useful and active in society. But what happens when that person is told that he/she cannot fulfill his/her dream just yet? That they have to wait until the laws change or society changes in order for them to be allowed to be a doctor, a lawyer, a priest or wherever his/her talent seems
to be pointing at. What if that person gets stuck doing another job that he/she lacks interest in and that talent turns into something negative just because society didn’t allowed him/her to fulfill his/her dreams? What now? What is going to happen to that person? If a person with his/her shelved dream loses all hope and is so filled up with anger, he/she might explode with resentment and may commit suicide, homicide or maybe both.
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.
Harlem has been known, prior to the twentieth century for being an African American community stricken with crime and poverty. Now it is a booming cultural and business center and they are experiencing a social and economic renaissance. The poem mentions in the first line a deferred dream (line 1). A dream that is postponed or delayed, and asks what happens to that dream. There are many things that could become of it, such as it drying up like a raisin in the sun, (lines 2 and 3) as if cramping up to be something dry of the hope and deliciousness it once had. But nevertheless it still exists. It could also mean that the dream is perfected by sitting for a while in a person’s heart like a sun dried raisin is perfected by being in the sun.
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..."
...k down upon. In other words, the idea of what Harlem was and what it could have been “exploded” in nearly everyone’s mind. However, as Harlem began to spiral downward, Hughes looked to pick Harlem back up. In 1951, in the midst of chaos in Harlem, Hughes published his poem “A Dream Deferred” in hopes to call people’s attention to the devastating effects Harlem was experiencing. Although issues regarding racism began to be addressed in the 1960’s, Harlem continued to fall apart. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that Harlem would begin to get back up off its feet. Patrols began increasing to deter crimes and retail stores began to gradually open up as seen with 65 East 125th Street. However, even though Harlem had begun undergoing a process of gentrification, for every step forward time had gone for the previous fifty years, it seemed as if Harlem took two steps back.
Many of his writings were inspired by the rhythm and language of the black church and the music of that time, specifically jazz and blues. He thought that this music was the true expression of black spirit, his poem “Harlem” was one of his works inspired by it. It was featured in Montage of a Dream Deferred, a collection of poetry published in 1951. Harlem was about how African Americans did not receive the full benefits of the “American Dream”. The American Dream was the idea that every American should be able to obtain freedom, equality, and opportunity as long as they worked hard for it. However, due to extreme racial segregation, African Americans faced great obstacles that prevented them from truly being able to fulfill their own American
...ss, representing the truth of the times. The majority of the problems influence only the one dreamer, however, the ending suggests that, when despair is everywhere, it may "explode" and cause social and political uprising. “Harlem” brings to light the anxiety between the need for Negro expression and the opposition to that need because of society’s subjugation of its black populace. His lines confront the racist and unjust attitude common in American society before the civil rights movement of the 1960s. it expresses the belief that black wishes and dreams were irrelevant should be ignored. His closing rhetorical question—“Or does [a dream deferred] explode?”—is aggressive, a testimony that the inhibition of black dreams might result in a revolution. It places the blame for this possible revolution on the domineering society that forces the deferment of the dream.
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
... in the other hand, I think if people reach their goal for money and fame, the real dreams already changed.
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.
“What happens to a dream deferred?” Is the question posed by the infamous Poet, activists, novelist, and playwright Langston Hughes in his 1951 poem by the name of Harlem or Dream deferred. In the poem, Hughes straightforwardly flings us a question, in which at first seem pretty simple in meaning but as you continue to read the concept becomes more and more complex and profound. The telling reader to pursue after their dream or the dream will soon disappear, an inspirational theme in which Hughes display in several of his works. Harlem uses clear-cut use of literary elements such as Metaphor, Speakers, Imagery, and Rhythm to describe just how 1950’s Harlem community perceived and valued their dream through the eye of Hughes. His approach was very straight forward and infuses in the concept in the most rudimentary way yet there’s nothing plain about the poem.
the life of Harlem and knew that equality and freedom was definitely not present. The poem portrays
Most of us have dreams that we one day hope to fulfill. They could be little dreams that will take little time and effort to accomplish, or they could be big dreams that will take more time and energy to fulfill. Nevertheless, "whether one's dream is as mundane as hitting the numbers or as noble as hoping to see one's children reared properly," each dream is equally important to the person who has it (Bizot 904). Each dream is also equally painful when it is taken away; or if we never have the opportunity to make the dream a reality. In the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes, the different emotions that people feel when a dream is "deferred" is presented through Hughes's unique style, language use, and imagery.
The poem “Negro” was written by Langston Hughes in 1958 where it was a time of African American development and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Langston Hughes, as a first person narrator tells a story of what he has been through as a Negro, and the life he is proud to have had. He expresses his emotional experiences and makes the reader think about what exactly it was like to live his life during this time. By using specific words, this allows the reader to envision the different situations he has been put through. Starting off the poem with the statement “I am a Negro:” lets people know who he is, Hughes continues by saying, “ Black as the night is black, /Black like the depths of my Africa.” He identifies Africa as being his and is proud to be as dark as night, and as black as the depths of the heart of his country. Being proud of him self, heritage and culture is clearly shown in this first stanza.
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.
Another poetic verse that illustrates Hughes' desire to establish a community of African- Americans who are accepting of their racial identities is As I Grew Older. The poem begins with: "It was a long time ago, I have almost forgotten my dream" (1-2). By starting with a "once upon a time" theme, it seems as though the speaker is reflecting upon a poignant time in his life which has most likely been his childhood years. Consequently, the speaker states: "I have almost forgotten my dream...in front of me bright like a sun..."(2-6). From the few statements, "dream" is centering idea. A dream is an intangible idea that powers ambition, and hope, rendering the individual confident and hopeful for the future. However, the speaker has "almost forgotten" his dream, meaning that his dream was no longer attainable or more simply, he could not reach it. Additionally, when the speaker states: "it was there then, in front of me, bright like a sun," the speaker acknowledges his blindness and the inevitable fact that like the sun which naturally rises and sets everyday without much reasoning, his dream was no longer his priority. By comparing the sun to his dream, the speaker is also alluding to the universal actions that all human beings all partake in. Every day, we are caught up by school, work, and life. However, we never once think about the surrounding natural events that occur around us. The sun gives us light and does not allow us to live in obscurity; the trees, the air that we breathe, and gravity helps us survive in this planet, but we take them for granted. In the same way, the speaker has forgotten what he has been living for and only acknowledges it once he has grown older and the racial struggles that he endures are now too hard ...