Langston Hughes - Harlem

Dale J. Holman

Michael Bove

SMCC SU18 ENGL 115 D4 Introduction to Literature

June 6th 2018

 Harlem is one of the poems that were written by Hughes that focused on the lives of

African Americans in the United States. The poem raises questions on the dreams and aspirations

of the people and the outcomes that they should expect if those dreams were not going to be

achieved in the long run. The poems that Langston Hughes wrote basically highlighted the plight

of African Americans and aimed to give them a voice. Even though most of the people were

against his work, he earned recognition in light of those who were being oppressed (Hollenbach,

2015). Hughes was a member of the Harlem renaissance which was an African American

movement that was known as the “New Negro Movement” in the 1920s. Hughes’ poems make

use of street languages and imagery to bring about a great influence. It was an intellectual, social,

and artistic movement in Harlem, New York (Watson, 2016).

This small poem tries to answer its own questions through the use of images and

figurative language or metaphors. This builds a clear imagination of what clearly the African

Americans went through. Hughes poses another question in the last stanza; this question

indicates that there is no actual answer for the initial question that he had asked Jenkins, (Brown

& Quiller, 2015).

What kind of dreams is Hughes talking about in this poem?- The dreams that he is talking

about are not the mere dreams that we experience while we are asleep nor just peoples’

imaginations, they have a desired goal that will benefit the people, aims and goals that should be

achieved sometime in the future. Hughes argues that the time for the realization of this dream has

already passed and that time is an important factor to consider. His aim was to ensure that this

dream came to realization; they could settle for nothing less. There is no highlighted solution for

this problem (postponed dreams) in the poem. There is a belief that something will happen but

the speaker does not point out what that would be (Watson, 2016).

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 Some of the comparisons that are brought forward are;

i) A raisin in the sun – This may mean a fruit that at one point of time was productive,

or something nutritious that has at the moment lost value and is useless. Days pass by

but nothing happens to change things around.

ii) Like a sore – This is a wound on the flesh showing illness, if it is neglected it will

turn bad and have a negative impact on the lives of the people.

iii) Rotten meat – a foodstuff that has been left for quite some time and cannot be used

any longer. This implies that there is something that has gone bad in the states where

dreams have been forgotten.

iv) Heavy load – no one would like to carry the load whatsoever. But from the

experience, we know that there are some people have carried the problems more than

others.

v) Syrupy sweet – instead of sugar adding value to the lives of human beings, it has been

left out for so long and rendered useless. The dream was sweet at some point in the

past.

The use of these contrasts helps in the creation of strong visualization of the scenarios in

the reader’s mind. By using food in most instances makes it clear for one to understand the depth

of the matter since food is something that we require for survival. In case one is denied this it

may result in serious consequences in the end. The last line of the poem sums up the expected

results of when the realization of people’s dreams is delayed. Some of the factors that contribute

to the delayed realization include; pressure within the society, oppression, prejudice together

with historical believes (Watson, 2016).

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 Why is this poem still in the canon?

According to Montgomery (2018), this poem points out some of the important factors

that contribute to peaceful coexistence among the human beings. This is the main reason why it

still applies to our lives even though it was written years ago. For us to live in peace and be

successful in our endeavors, we must learn to treat one another in the fairest way. No one should

feel oppressed or looked down upon at any given time (Hollenbach, 2015).

In our lives today, there are several challenges that we come across, this poem greatly

helps us in finding the ways of dealing with the challenges and know how to avoid them. The

message passed by the poem is that we should learn to respect others as this will make life much

easier. Hughes had a clear understanding of how dreams are so relevant for the achievement of

various goals in the society and the country at large. He cherished the spirit that the African

Americans in the United States had; he wanted to understand the encounters that these people

had in their day to day lives. During this period, most of the African Americans were afraid to do

so since they feared facing serious punishments.

Does it appeal to the 21st century audience?

This poem still appeals to the people of the 21st century because of a couple of reasons;

Firstly, many people would like to have a clear understanding of the encounters that people had

in the past and know the advancements that they have made so far (Jenkins et al., 2015). We can

also say this poem is much appealing because it focuses majorly on emotional responses of the

readers and tells the stories of what the African Americans endured during that period. This

makes the poem more appealing. Readers who have a feeling of affection, delights or those who

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feel the sorrow of loss can resonate with the people who faced the challenges and make them feel

that they have not been left alone.

In conclusion, symbolism of the dream reflects on modern day change process. The poet

didn’t refer to specific dream. He summarily discussed how African American cannot aspire

great or dream in surroundings environment that is full of oppression. The few that dare to dream

will have their dreams and aspirations fading after long wait and they end up rotting. The

question about deferred dream is powerful and Hughes used potent images to make the reader

taste, feel and discard these dreams (Jenkins et al., 2015). However, it is noted that the discarded

dream doesn’t vanish but goes through evolutionary changes that resembles a physical decay

process.

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 References

Hollenbach, L. (2015). Sono-Montage: Langston Hughes and Tony Schwartz Listen to

Postwar New York. American Literature, 87(2), 275-302.

Montgomery, S. E., Montgomery, Z. K., Vander Zanden, S., Jorgensen, A., & Rudic, M.

(2018). Cultivating the Collective: Exploring the American Dream with Sixth

Graders. Social Studies Research and Practice, (just-accepted), 00-00.

Jenkins, D., Brown, T., & Quiller, W. (2015). Text Mining and Digital Humanities:

Quantitative Analysis of African American Poetry.

Watson, J. E. (2016). Langston Hughes' Harlem Home Gets New Lease on Life. Diverse

Issues in Higher Education, 33(17), 8.

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