Dream Deferred

Dream Deferred By Langston Hughes

Dream Deferred is a rather pessimistic poem about unfulfilled dreams. All dreams are accompanied with a potential for success, but when a dream remains dormant, a once wonderful things may become altered. Such as " a raisin in the sun," or "rotten meat," dreams can start as a good things, but develop into something disturbing (Hughes). This poems uses figurative language to voice these gruesome dreams. Through similes, Hughes creates a visual aspect to lost dreams. Hughes uses phrases such as,"fester like a sore," and "like a heavy load," to construct the idea of a potential good turning into something disturbing and altered (Hughes). These similes shape the poem for almost every line contains a simile and uses them to connect unfulfilled dreams to something now grotesque. The end of the poem states," or does it explode?" This line infers that if this heavy burden is not lifted, the dream may just burst without any consent, leaving mass chaos and trouble in its path. I believe Hughes was referring to African Americans and their fight for equality throughout the years. African Americans had a dream to be equal to whites and to receive the same rights, but for many years, nothing happened. The dream then exploded with the civil rights movement, causing disarray for years to come.