“Dreams Deferred” and “Dreams”
In the poems “Dreams Deferred” and “Dreams” by Langston Hughes the author talks about how important dreams are. The author uses many different types of figurative languages such as similes and metaphors and shows how they are alike and different in many ways.
In the poem “Dreams” the author writes “Hold fast to your dreams/for if dreams die ”(Hughes 1-2 poem 1). The theme of this poem is to try to achieve your dreams and not let them die . In the poem “Dream Deferred ” also by Langston Hughes the author writes about the theme being how a person could basically not be sane without dreams and how important they are to a person. As the author writes “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun” ( Hughes 2-3 poem 2). The author is referring how dreams die when not pursued and dry up like raisins when not used or reached.
The author used figurative language in the form of metaphors in these two poems in the first poem “Dreams” . The author writes “For when dreams go/Life is like a barren field/ of frozen snow ” (Hughes 6-8 poem 1) . Which he feels hopelessness and the author expresses hopelessness in the
lines ”For it dreams die / Life is a broken winged-bird / that cannot fly ”(Hughes - poem 2). The author is trying to explain to the reader to not let go of your dreams which is basically the whole poem is about your dreams and how important and I don’t think that Langston Hughes could stress that anymore than he already has. As the author writes “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”
Langston Hughes argues about how readers should never let our hopes, dreams, and aspirations.
In this poem, it is simply asking what would happen to our dreams if they were pushed to the side. Throughout the poem, it gives possible vivid solutions that we can picture. With such solutions being, “Dry up like a raisin in the sun”, “Does it stink like rotten meat?”, or even “Does it explode”. This imagery allows for the reader to gain a better perception of what their personal dreams have amounted or are currently amounting to. While readers can connect on a personal level, they can also sense the self-expression put into the poem. As Hughes wrote about the raisins it really makes you think because raisins originally start off as grapes which then lose their juice and become raisins. Well when Hughes wrote “Dry up like a raisin in the sun” it’s saying that it is even drying up more than it already is which means his dream is that much more difficult to obtain. It’s that much more difficult to obtain due to the color of his skin. This goes back to the Harlem Renaissance movement and inequality throughout America.
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.
Here Hughes is stating very generally and unspecific how he wishes for peace and love. Something that everyone would like but will probably never come true. This statement is an excellent attention getter. It tells about a dream that everyone would like without singling out any group of people to blame for the dream not coming true. Then as the poem goes on he gets more and more specific. Hughes then goes on to dream that everyone “Will know sweet freedoms way,/Where greed no longer sa...
Hughes is asking what happens to a dream that is being put off. What do these dreams do, do they do good, do they do bad, or do they do neither good nor bad? He continues by stating this simile:"Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" Using this simile he is stating that dreaming can be good or bad. A raisin is a grape that has been dehydrated by the sun. Hughes is conveying that dreams can suck the life out of a person, mentally dehydrating them. However a raisin is not necessarily bad. When the grape is dehydrated by the sun it turns the grape into a raisin, a sweet and delightful friut which can furnish ...
...estyle. His poem, “Dream” Langston demonstrates, as in many of his works, reach for your goals. He begins the poem, “Hold fast to dreams/ For if dreams die/ Life is like a broken-winged bird that cannot fly” (Hughes, 2004). He uses a metaphor here comparing life to an injured bird that is unable to do what it born to do, soar. Mr. Hughes accomplished something that a lot of blacks never really got a chance to do in those days, live out his dreams. In this poem his message is clear; “Hold fast to your dreams/ For when dreams go/Life is a barren field (Hughes, 2004) a barren field is infertile land. What good is land when it is unfruitful? Everything and everyone has a purpose and we haven’t a clue as to what that purpose is, then we should make one. If not then we become as complacent as a “barren field covered frozen with snow” (Hughes, 2004).
Langston Hughes’s poem, Harlem, inspired the title of A Raisin in The Sun for it’s close relation with the theme of dreams. His poem can also connect back with Disney’s quote; Disney states that anyone’s dream can come true if pursued, while Hughes talks about what happens when dreams aren’t pursued. He discusses many different things that can happen when dreams are deferred. Many times when they aren’t chased, dreams have a negative impact on that person. Harlem is definitely a negative poem, conveyed through phrases like rotten, crust, sag, and fester - all unpleasant words. The poem’s pace and placement of each guess as to what happens of a dream deferred is important to the message of the poem. In the beginning, Hughes talks about processes that are slower, like “...dry[ing] up like a raisin in the sun” (2-3) and “crust[ing] and syrup[ing] over -- like a sugary sweet”(7-8). At the end of the poem, the author talks wonders “...does it just explode?” (11), something that happens much quicker than all his other guesses. I think the reason for his choice of pace is because that’s often the path that a dream deferred takes; a slow process, the dream slowly fades away until, BOOM, there isn’t a dream left i...
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
Langston Hughes' poem begins with a deceptively innocent question: "What happens to a dream deferred?" (Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun 1). From the opening line, the reader is left to contemplate an infinite number of possible outcomes, among them if it partially dies, if it continues to live into the next generation, if it matters what kind of dream it is, and many others. And then, suddenly, he adds to it to further focus the question and thusly to compound and raise its complexity. He asks, "Does it dry up / Like a raisin in the sun?" (Hansberry 2-3). Now, whereas the reader could initially answer the first question in whichever way he wished, he now finds him...
Both poems address the fundamental theme of having a dream. This is the ever-occurring dream that is explored during the Harlem renaissance period; the dream of justice that is deferred. However, even in having the same theme, it is explored and is envisioned by the poets in different ways. In “A Dream Deferred”, Hughes describes the negative potentials of a dream that is delayed, warning that this may be dangerous. For example, he describes how ‘[it may] fester like a sore and then run’ which shows that if this dream remains unfulfilled, it will get ‘infected’ and lead to a greater, more destructive problem (4-5). Also, the dream may ‘crust and sugar over, like a syrupy sweet’, which describes how if a dream is forced to sit idle, it will lose its original goal, and harden into destructive thoughts that are crusted over with doubt, anger and hatred. It is even brought to a greater extreme; where Hughes describes how this dream may simply ‘explode’ (11). This shows the catastrophe that may result from the impatience of African-Americans who really want to achieve this dream of justice. On the other hand, in “My Little ...
Langston Hughes uses a profusion of similes in "Harlem" "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" This simile compares a dream deferred to gross food that has dried up. Similarly, when you give up on your dream, it dries up. "Or fester like a sore?" This simile shows that a dream deferred can be painful, and stay in your thoughts for your whole life. Langston Hughes uses similes to convey his theme in Harlem.
In Langston Hughes’ poem, the author gives us vivid examples of how dreams get lost in the weariness of everyday life. The author uses words like dry, fester, rot, and stink, to give us a picture of how something that was originally intended for good, could end up in defeat. Throughout the play, I was able to feel how each character seemed to have their dreams that fell apart as the story went on. I believe the central theme of the play has everything to do with the pain each character goes thru after losing control of the plans they had in mind. I will attempt to break down each character’s dream and how they each fell apart as the play went on.
the poem “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” Is an illusion that explains how a dream and the life of
Through the exemplary use of symbolism, Langston Hughes produced two poems that spoke to a singular idea: Black people have prevailed through trials and tribulations to carry on their legacy as a persevering people. From rivers to stairs, Hughes use of extended metaphor emphasizes the feeling of motion which epitomizes the determination of the people. Overall, the driving feeling of the poems coupled with their strong imagery produce two different works that solidify and validate one main idea.
“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.
In his poem, Hughes asks the reader to think by posing the question, ?What happens to a dream deferred??(1). This first li...