Analysis Of Let America Be America Again By Langston Hughes

In Let America Be America Again, Langston Hughes pliably shares his opinions on the American dream. Hughes composed this poem in the year 1935 and its title was later used as the slogan by John Kerry while running for a presidential seat in 2004.In the entire poem, Hughes divergences his expectations of America with the truth of life for those individuals outside religious and social groups. He reminds the dreams of the many people who came to America in order to fulfill them yet they have not been able to do so because America is not the land they thought it was. The poem begins with the poet wishing for America to be what it was once was. The use of the phrase ‘again’ in line one shows that the country has gone done to a lower position than

it used to be decades ago. The earliest Americans practiced bad habits such as slavery and oppressions. In those days, the oppressed hoped that the oppression would end and equality would prevail in the country. However, in line 6, Hughes explains that this only existed in their minds because, in today’s economy, the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. This, therefore, poses a big question, does America live up to what it ought to be?
America has never lived to what it ought to be since oppression and equality have never been achieved.

Hughes says that it has only been a dog eat dog world as expressed in line 24.The poet describes the country as a dog eat dog where the weak people are oppressed. Despite their hard work, the hungry and humble citizens do not get an opportunity to share the wealth and will always remain outside the limits of success. Many years ago, there was slavery and great opposition amongst the earliest Americans. The poor were even chased out of their land so that the rich would build their homes.The black Americans were even looked down on by the white Americans. People had hopes that one day America would be a country where equality would reign. However, that is not the case in today’s world as the poor people are still looked down on by the rich and their hard work ignored. Apart from that, people are still slaved as they used to be in the olden day yet in different ways. In line 14, the poet uses sarcasm to show that equality has never existed in the country. The speaker further cries to poor people that they must raise up and redefine equality. In line 74, he urges the oppressed that they must take back their

land.
In the poem, it is evident that there is no freedom in the country as expected.

Between line 17 and 19, the speaker poses his thoughts on freedom, which it is like a darkness and blocked. According to him, there have never been equality nor freedom in the land of America. A main significant dream for America is liberty. Liberty, which is another word for freedom is a dream that is treasured so much and held fastidiously. It’s due to the freedom that people immigrated to the United States. Therefore, freedom is a sign for America and holds hope that America will one day achieve its dreams. Hughes, therefore, wants a country that is not crowned with patriotic cover as stated in line 14. He, therefore, wants a county ‘that is patriotic with no fake promises’. Between lines 54 and 63, Hughes sarcastically says that there is no freedom in America. He says that he is speaking, representing the ‘millions’ of people out there. This shows that people do not have the freedom to express themselves and are afraid of doing

that.
America does not live up to what it should be because of the greed for money. As presented out in the poem, money is the major cause of greed in America. The speaker feels that ‘power’ and owning property is the main focus. Everything is now about money. As per Hughes thoughts, America should be a country that shares its wealth equally but it has become what it has become due to the greed of money. In line 32, the speaker states “Of possessing everything for one’s own greed”. This shows that people are self-centered and no longer think or care about other people’s welfare. People are only concerned about a number of things they can possess by themselves.
In conclusion, it is clear from the above argument that America has never achieved its full potential. Issues such as inequality, oppression, greed for power and lack of freedom must be addressed for the country to achieve its full potential. Langston Hughes gives a message of hope to the people. Even though the country is not where it is supposed to be, he says that ‘America will be’-line 84.However, for this to happen, Hughes encourages people that they must be willing to change their country for they are the citizens and they must redeem.