let america be america again

707 Words2 Pages

Many may agree with the message Langston Hughes was conveying in his poem entitled Let America Be America Again, wishing things didn't happen the way it did that caused America to look corruptive. I felt as though throughout his poem based on the title he states the hardships that Americans had to face in the past and even how America is glorified as "land of the free" but with many struggles as well the terrible things that have occured in America it will never be America again and Hughes knows that because there is no such thing as "America being America again" he only wishes it was that way.
For instance, in the third stanza: " O, let my land be a land where liberty is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, but opportunity is real, and life is free, equality is in the air we breathe. (There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")". We see in this line that Hughes refers to how glorfied the word "liberty" is but no one is never free, there were times in which discrimination took place, no equality and slavery took place so "crowned with false patriotic wreath" meaning freedom doesn't come with lack of support in the country, as well as doing harm to each other just to be superior. Hughes just wants a land in which he actually sees opportunity to be authentic, meaning everyone actually get the chance to live up to their dreams without discrminiation intefering or illtreatment.
Another analysis of Hughes wishing America to be America again is when he refered to himself in the fifth stanza , line one, two and three; "Negro bearing slavery scars, red man driven from the land, and the immigrant clutching hope I seek--". Tracing back to history on how everything began, Hughes refrenced slavery...

... middle of paper ...

...scribe the immigrants who left heir country in search for land of opportunity, but as for Africa he used the word "torn" which means break away, meaning that people from Africa never "left " their country voluntary, they were taken and sold into slavery, so where is the freedom in this that's what Hughes wants to know.
Moreover, we see that Langston teaches the audience the concept of contradiction, how America would represent freedom but the people would deceit the word, and completely do the opposite of it. Things maybe a little different from back then, but it took a lot of hard work and courageousness to pave a way for the people to actually see equality as freedom. Langston doesn't only want America to be America again, he wishes that America could be reborn without all the disasters that've taken place in history.

Works Cited

Hughes Langston. Poets.org

Open Document