Langston Hughes Let Usa Be America Again Literary Devices

In “Let America be America Again” Langston Hughes uses allusions to American history and politics to provide a comprehensive analysis of the American Dream, especially the roles of both privileged and oppressed peoples in the creation and future of the nation. Through his language and literary devices, Hughes unifies the groups traditionally cast aside by American society and creates a call to action to “make America again!” transforming the poem from a work of art to a means of social change (Hughes, 86). Hughes begins the poem by harking back to the origins of the country. In the first stanza the lines, “Let it be the pioneer on the plain/Seeking a home where he himself is free.” alludes to Manifest Destiny (3,4). The third stanza, which …show more content…

They present the quintessential American narrative of adventure, independence, freedom, and opportunity. However, interjected between these ideals is another, quiet and subdued, voice. Hughes’ use of parentheticals creates separation, and a sense that the voice is subdued. This voice counters the traditional American ideals, and reveals one of the central themes of the poem: that these ideals did not apply to everyone. After a few quiet, understated interjections, another speaker invites the parenthetical voice to grow louder. The voice becomes more outspoken and reveals that it comes from a collective identity of those who have been disadvantaged by the system. Hughes writes not only from the perspective of African Americans, but gathers identities from all walks of life to create a powerful unification of voices. Hughes brings class alongside race, providing a critique of capitalism. He claims that young men “full of strength and hope” became, “Tangled in that ancient endless chain/Of profit, power, gain, of grabbing the land!” detailing how the capitalist cycle of greed traps aspirations and makes life solely about owning more