Analysis Of Harlem By Langston Hughes

All the Possibilities

In the year 1951, the critically acclaimed Langston Hughes wrote a poem that had more questions than answers for the African American population of the post WW2 period. Without hesitation Langston Hughes opens the poem with a question that automatically gets the reader pondering the thought of what a dream does if it is postponed till the future. Throughout the poem the author poses questions to the reader about the dream that is deferred. All possibilities are on the table in this eleven line poem that questions the negative or positive effects of the ambitious dream of the African American community. Langston Hughes, author of “Harlem”, puts into practice the use of similes and imagery to deliberate about what the African

The use of similes the poet uses in response to the downfall of the New York neighborhood, Harlem gives the audience examples of the possibilities the African American society might face. No surprise that the great Langston Hughes has written a piece of poetry in the face of oppression. The poet’s first response to the question is with another question in lines 2-3, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” The poet compares the dream and the raisin to point out that the dream can shrink from something vast to a minor unrecognizable thought in the back of your mind over time. His next answer is in line 4, “Or festers like a sore.” When a sore has not been appropriately taken care of and not properly treated the outcome is that the wound will begin to fester. The same principle applies in these lines by comparing the two and stating that the dream will not go away if not properly taken care of. Later in line 6 the poet questions, “Does it stink like rotten meat?” which starts to evaluate the outcome the dream will become a nagging force in the minds of the culture. The smell of rotten meat overpowers all other senses when you first come into contact with it which reminds one to

The tone set from the poem’s imagery brings forth a sense of disappointment along with frustration for the dream. In the opening response of lines 2-3, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” the poet gives a comparison that evokes the pain of becoming a withered and distorted depiction of the dream. Of all the many possibilities the dream could have gone, he chooses to move into the direction of irritation to set the tone of the poem. Langston gives off a feeling of discontent with the imagery connotation he gives in lines 4-5, “Or fester like sore- and then run?” His direction of writing steers towards the anxiety of the dream itself when the image depicts the frustration of the culture of African Americans; this will begins to build up and will eventually pour out of the black community. In line 6 he uses the imagery of rotten meat, “…stink like rotten meat.” The use of this visual has the dream as a foul piece of meat to show the dream could become tainted with a wrong state of mind. Again, the words used shows the tone of irritation the poet has. Mr. Hughes continues with his writing by depicting the crusting and sugaring over of a syrupy sweet, “Or crust and sugar over- like a sugary sweet.” The pace of the poem begins to feel sluggish after the mentioning of the syrup, and because of the syllables dropping from 7 in the previous