Dreams in Harlem by Langston Hughes

The only major shift that occurs in Dreams Deferred, happens on the last line of the poem. Hughes compares dreams to other things using similes. These similes are not instantaneous, they happen and worsen over time. i.e(Does it dry up/like a raisin in the sun?/Or fester like a sore). But on the last line, he compares dreams deferring to something that doesn’t need time. An

The poem A Dream Deferred can be best explained as thinking of what can happen to a dream. The author, Langston Hughes, wonders what happens to a dream that is not pursued. He asks, “Does it dry up, like a raisin in the sun?” That answers the question- why did Lorraine Hansberry pick the title of her award winning novel, A Raisin in the Sun. She chose this name because of the dreams the characters in her play have. Walter Lee Younger, one of the main protagonists, has a dream to buy a spot in a liquor store as a partner by using the money he received after his father, Walter Young, died. Walter Lee goes against his mother's desires and spends all the money, instead of giving half to his sister for her schooling. The money is then stolen by his business partner (Hansberry 128). Here, we see Walter Lee’s dream being crushed just like in the poem, when the author asks, “does it explode?” (Hughes).

The last line, "Or does it explode?" (11) is an example of a metaphor. The writer implies that a postponed dream--destroys, causes a violent or even disturbing emotional reaction.

“What happens to a dream deferred?” Is a question from Langston Hughes, “A Dream Deferred” asks one what happens to a forgotten dream. This idea connects two well-known American plays, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry and Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller, in the sense that each character has a dream deferred. A dream deferred is a forgotten dream or one that has been left behind. The two father figures, Walter and Willy, share many comparisons such as having a big dream reaching for success in business, leaving them behind, and their reactions.

The poetry of Langston Hughes, the poet laureate of Harlem, is an effective commentary on the condition of blacks in America during the 20th Century. Hughes places particular emphasis on Harlem, a black area in New York that became a destination of many hopeful blacks in the first half of the 1900ís. In much of Hughes' poetry, a theme that runs throughout is that of a "dream deferred." The recurrence of a"dream deferred" in several Hughes poems paints a clear picture of the disappointment and dismay that blacks in America faced in Harlem. Furthermore, as each poem develops, so does the feeling behind a"dream deferred," growing more serious and even angry with each new stanza.<br><br>To understand Hughes' idea of the"dream deferred," one

Dreams deferred are dreams that have been forgotten and set aside. Dreams have many reasons to be deferred such as racism, laziness or lack of money. In this essay I will write about how dreams deferred helped me synthesize these stories. There were many significant dreams in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Two main dreams were deferred and they were dreams of Atticus and Scout.

Nothing is worse than having a dream deferred. Hansberry's’ A Raisin in the Sun is inspired by Langston Hughes’ famous poem, “A Dream Deferred.” Walter, Lena, and Beneatha all have their dreams put on hold, and as anybody would react, they are not happy. “A Dream Deferred” talks about what might happen when a person does not achieve their dreams. Through the characters in A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry shows what happens to a dream deferred.

It gives us an example of the resentment that is growing. People are getting more inflamed emotionally, just like the wound gets worse if not treated. It draws a clear parallel between people's emotions and the images of the sore. Just as an untreated sore will not heal, but get more infected, a deferred dream will not go away, but become more intense. A wound that gets worse will eventually start to smell bad. Hughes compares this to rotten meat. "Does it stink like rotten meat?" This image creates the idea that unrealized dreams will bring out the worst in men. It also means that for some the realization of their dreams will become less attractive.

This poem dramatizes the conflict between wondering what a dream differed actually does, and how effective it really is. This poem particularly provides conflicts between either beings motivated or having a setback to your dream. From a dream differed, the speaker shows in the text that a dream is precious, but it can become a problem if not acted on the right time. Langston Hughes uses imagery a lot throughout the poem revealing the good and bad of what a dream is and how it looks when it is differed.

Having a dream plays an important role in one’s life and varies from person to person. It makes a person’s life purposeful. Some dreams are achievable and some aren’t, but hard work is essential for both of them. More, there are also some dreams that demand long time along with full dedication and devotion, such as dreams of getting freedom, dignity, status etc. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry describes throughout the story that how the dreams of the Younger family become “dreams deferred”. The younger family actually represents to all African- Americans families, who after a very long time, hard struggle, and sacrifices are able to achieve equal rights in the society along with whites.

“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.

Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem” sums up white oppression on black people in America. Hughes packs so much significance into the eleven-line poem that would help inspire other influential works such as A Raisin in the Sun and possibly the “I had a dream” speech from Martin Luther King. In “Harlem” Hughes uses simile and diction to show how dreams being deferred can frustrate the human spirit.

Dreams are hopes that people hope to accomplish in their lifetime. When trying to achieve these goals, people are willing to do anything. But, what happens when a dream is deferred? A dream pushed aside can disappoint a person in the deepest way. It is likely to spread throughout their thoughts and becomes a burden. In the poem “Harlem,” Langston Hughes, through literary devices, introduce a strong theme through a short amount of language Hughes is asking what happens to a dream that is being put off.

The meaning of, "A Dream Deferred," is that no one really knows what happens to dreams that are not fulfilled. The poem starts with the line, "What happens to a dream deferred?" and this plainly asks what happens to dreams that have not been paid attention to. The next line in the poem is, "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun or fester like a sore and then run?" meaning does a dream simply wither away until it is no longer prevalent, or does it sit and stew until it becomes unbearable enough that it is fulfilled out of convenience. The following stanza is, "Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet." This means that dreams could possibly be attainable, but people put them on the figurative back burner making them "rot" and "smell" like a constant reminder. A scholarly review written by Marie Rose Napierkowski proves my point by saying, "With the smell of rotten meat, Hughes suggests that dreams deferred will pester one

Langston Hughes's poem "Dream Deferred" is basically about what happens to dreams when they are put on hold. Hughes probably intended for the poem to focus on the dreams of African-American in particular. However, it is just as easy to read the poem as being about dreams in general and what happens when people postpone making them come true. What I got from the poem was that the longer you put your dreams on hold, the more the dreams will change and the less likely they will come true.