In Langston Hughes’ Let America be America Again, he describes his judgements on America and the “American Dream”. The poem was intended to express how the American dream is not the equivalent as when the first pioneers came looking for the land of the free (lines 3-4). For the narrator, America was at no time equal and some groups of people are treated as if they are worth less than others (lines 16-17). The author’s tone in the poem goes from enthusiastic to despondent in different areas. In lines 6-7, he states “Let America be the dream the dreamer’s dreamed- Let it be the great strong land of love” which is proclaimed in a confident tone. In other lines he is deep and distraught, such as lines 23-26, when he describes various ethnicities and how their lives are contradictory to the American Dream. The significance behind the poem is that for many, the American Dream is a …show more content…
false image of what many anticipated it to be. Also, he describes how the subgroups of America or the people forced to this land, constructed this land from top to bottom and deserve to live happily just as much as any race (line 50-54). In the poem, Hughes briefly states “I am the Negro, servant to you all” (lines 37-42).
This is just one of the many instances of how minorities have been and are treated poorly by society. Today “negroes”, or African Americans, are still treated poorly and do not live up to the American Dream, instead they lag behind all other races in America. In 2013, African Americans made up 13.2% of the United States population and have the uppermost rate of poverty with 2.9 million African Americans unemployed. The U.S. holds 25% of the world’s prisoners and 1.1 million of the 2.3 million prisoners in America are African American. There are also more African American families in poverty headed by a lone mother than with a father since 1959, although the rate plummeted from 70.6% in 1959 to 41.2% in 2012. This is the contemporary example of line 64 which says, “The millions who have nothing for our pay…” This ethnicity was forced out of their land and transported to American to build it from the ground up and today they obtain nothing for it, although they have made it an elongated way from the
beginning. In “Let America be America Again” Langston Hughes describes his outlooks on the American dream. To Hughes, the dream has by no means been alive and it has never been tangible for a lot of different groups of people. In lines 23-28, he describes various groups and how the dream has been torn from their lives forcefully. He wants his country to embody liberty and not just false patriotic wreath (lines 12-13). No one in America is justly free because everyone still holds the stereotypical views on all races and embraces de facto racial discrimination based on the statistics. “There has never been equality for me, nor freedom in this homeland of the free” the homeland of free is a dream and has not been actuality for any person since the beginning of time.
The American Dream is what everybody dreams when they come to the United States. The dream of working hard and their determination help them to become successful. In the poems "America" by Claude McKay, " Let America be America Again" by Langston Hughes, "A Message to America" by Alan Seeger, " I Hear America Singing" and "Long, Too Long America" by Walt Whitman can relate to the American Dream. In these poems, the speaker can show a connect to the American Dream by showing how they felt either being proud or upset with what is happening during that time.
This poem is often compared to Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing because of the similarities of the two poems. In this poem, Hughes argues that the African American race is equal to whites. Hughes even declares that one day the African American race will be equal to whites. Hughes proclaims, “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed-I, too, am America.” Hughes was very bold and daring when he wrote these lines in this poem. He is implying that the white people will regret what they have done to blacks. That they will be ashamed of how they treated them. Undoubtedly, this poem expresses Hughes cultural identity.
The American Dream is a set of your ideals in which your freedom involves the prosperity and success of your life. In “Lucinda Matlock” that was written by Edgar Masters, the point of the story is that a woman who enjoys life has to face a tragedy and she accepts it. This poem defends The American Dream because the poem is about a woman who lives a happy a fulfilling life before she has to face death. After the woman lives her lives as she pleases she meets a man by the name of Davis. “Driving home in the moonlight of middle June, And then I found Davis.” The woman is glad
Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes were two great of America’s poets who believed in the American Dream. The American Dream was the ideal that every U.S. citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. The American Dream meant everything to Whitman and Hughes during that time. Whitman’s poem was titled “I Hear America Singing’’ and Hughes poem was titled “Let America Be America Again.’’ Although Whitman and Hughes agreed that America was the land of opportunity, they had very different perspectives on who had achieved liberty and success.
This is amazing passage that really sets the tone for the rest of the paper. It’s ironic and inspirational in every way. Coates makes a connection about this when he referenced Nathaniel Bacon’s rebellion in which white and black indentured servants banded together to fight for their rights. The sad thing is that many whites forget today they too faced discrimination and struggled for their rights. Rather it was the holocaust, women’s right movement or even union strikes, we all had to fight for something as Americans since the beginning.
Often depicted as a melting pot, America is always being put on a pedestal by the rest of the world due to the large amounts of successful immigrants in the United States. Millions of people have packed their bags and moved to America in hopes of achieving their dreams. While some succeed, others fail and are let down by the dim reality that not everyone can achieve their goals. This essay will compare the poems, “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes and “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus to exhibit my perspective on both works. Both poems portray people’s hopes that America will be great, however, due to the different eras and the authors’ backgrounds, the poems have different meanings. Lazarus’ poem was written in the early stages of America, as it describes her cheerful
Langston Hughes's stories deal with and serve as a commentary of conditions befalling African Americans during the Depression Era. As Ostrom explains, "To a great degree, his stories speak for those who are disenfranchised, cheated, abused, or ignored because of race or class." (51) Hughes's stories speak of the downtrodden African-Americans neglected and overlooked by a prejudiced society. The recurring theme of powerlessness leads to violence is exemplified by the actions of Sargeant in "On the Road", old man Oyster in "Gumption", and the robber in "Why, You Reckon?"
This poem is written from the perspective of an African-American from a foreign country, who has come to America for the promise of equality, only to find out that at this time equality for blacks does not exist. It is written for fellow black men, in an effort to make them understand that the American dream is not something to abandon hope in, but something to fight for. The struggle of putting up with the racist mistreatment is evident even in the first four lines:
The concept of the American Dream has always been that everyone wants something in life, no matter if it is wealth, education, financial stability, safety, or a decent standard of living. In addition, everyone will try to strive to get what they want. The American Dream, is said to be that everyone should try and get what they hope they can get in life. In the play A Raisin in the Sun the author Hansberry tells us about a family where each has an American Dream, and Hughes in the poem “ Let America be America Again “is telling us to let America be the America that was free for us to obtain The American Dream. Hansberry and Langston see America like as a place to find the dream desired, although they also see limitation to obtain the American Dream, such as poverty, freedom, inequality, racism and discrimination.
One can instantly feel the emotion coming out in the first sentence; “Let America be America again.”(MLM) This clearly show that Hughes was very passionate about his country and wanted the reader to be just as well. He quickly lets the reader now that he is not talking about going back to the old traditions, but to the old ideology. Hughes explain it this way, “Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed” and “…where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme that any man be crushed by on above.” (MLM) This shows his true heart because he wanted America to go back to dreaming big for a better tomorrow, but what he doesn’t want is the injustice that was so prevalent in the past. He wanted the nation to go back to that old ideology “that we are all created equal”() and should be treated as such.
The American Dream is an aspiration that millions of people reach for in their lifetimes. The idea that living in America will assure happiness and success is a reason why many people migrate to this country. In actuality, the many people searching for it may not fulfill this dream lifestyle that America hypothetically offers. Like in the poem Harlem, by Langston Hughes, and the songs “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and “Racing in the Street” by Bruce Springsteen, the main characters are battling with the idea of the American Dream and the life that it offers. Harlem describes what happens when you put a dream off and this dream may as well be the American Dream. “Darkness on the Edge of Town” describes what it feels like to lose the life the
This chapter focusses mostly on the injustice against black people and commences with an insert from Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous ‘I have a Dream’ speech. The chapter describes an America that has a lot ‘unfinished business’ and due to this unfinished business not being remedied, black people continue to be among the most impoverished races within the United States. This chapter makes for a very interesting read as authors sum up the issues within the US while they include their theory of fairness and stories to explain why special poverty among minorities
Things will get hard and you just gotta hope and pray for the better as you live you life daily. In “I Too Sing America” by Langston Hughes, He says, “I’ll be at the table , when company comes,” He is very hopeful and is determined that he will be at the table when company comes. Hughes has a strong and determined mind that he is going to be at that table no matter what. With him having hope that he will be at that table shows how strong Americans are. Most Americans will do whatever it takes to make sure they get what they need; want. I say at least eighty five percent of people in America would see you struggling with your hope and they will do whatever they can to help a fellow citizen. In the poem “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes, he says “I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—” Hughes is saying that he is an immigrant that is coming to America that has hope at the tip of his fingers. Hoping that the “land of opportunity” lives up to the expectations. Does the “land of opportunity” really live up to the expectations? In addition to the statement stated before, in the poems it says, “Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe” Hughes is saying that the hope he had about the United States of America being the “land of opportunity” was everything that he was hoping
Langston Hughes says that that America dream is not for everybody. As Langston says, “Let America be America again.” He is saying it used to be a dream for many, but many people slowly lost that dream. Langston also said, “Dog eats dog, mighty crush the weak.” saying people with more power
.Langston Hughes wrote the poem “Negro” in 1922. After emancipation, African Americans tried to locate a protected place to embrace music, liberal arts, and theater.African Americans found this in Harlem and used their artistic skills to press for racial equality. This poem is meant to illustrate the presence of blacks throughout history, highlight their global contributions, and illuminate their sufferings.