Analysis of A Dream Deferred

The poem A Dream Deferred discusses the many potential consequences that can occur when a dream is not realized soon enough. These six consequences illustrate the different ways that a deferred dream can die, and consequently harm its dreamer. Langston Hughes, the speaker of the poem, expresses his anxiety over his deferred dreams as they relate to his many soured aspirations. The dream may perish in six hypothetical ways, all of which are quite damaging to Hughes as the dreamer.

Hughes shows his fear of having his dreams deferred by portraying only negative possibilities. He speculates that deferred dreams may dry, fester, stink, crust, sag or explode. Hughes never supposes that his dream may wait, patiently and without damage, for its moment to be realized because he thinks this to be impossible. This learned helplessness was likely conditioned when Hughes was a young boy, trying to succeed as the only black student in a white school. While he dreamed to be treated as the other students were, “the teacher singled him out for his brownness, and several of his classmates would climax the day by throwing stones or epithets at him” (Presley, page 2) Hughes had to work harder than the other students to earn the respect of his biased teachers and classmates, and constantly facing their doubt in his abilities made it more difficult for him to have trust in his own academic talents. Through his persistent pursuit of poetry, Hughes was named Class Poet during his senior year. Hughes would not have been awarded that title if he had waited to begin writing in his later life, and it is likely that his writing potential would have perished, as do deferred dreams, from being underused. Describing the deferred dreams with negatively-associated words shows that Hughes has only fear, not hope, for that will occur if his dreams are not realized promptly.

The presentation of many ways in which a dream may die in the poem suggests that each dream has a unique death. Some dreams fade away slowly, some dreams become unachievable in the time the dreamer takes to realize them, and others collapse suddenly and dramatically. Hughes’ hypothesizing over the ways in which a dream will die suggests that he has experienced the different deaths of his different dreams, and he is distressed thinking about how his recently deferred dream will inevitably die. Each death of a dream is agonizing in its own way, “but the last possibility is the worst. If the person whose dream is deferred loses all hope, he might explode with despair.” (Grimes, page 2) Hughes demonstrates that he is most fearful of a deferred dream’s explosion by distinguishing the last death from the ones before it. The first five deaths are presented as similes, yet the last one is a metaphor. This makes the “explosion” pop from the poem as a more valid and frightening possibility. The idea of an exploding dream is presented last so it may serve its purpose as to shock and stick with the reader. Hughes also positions the explosion last as if he needed to ease into the idea, and can face it after he has come to terms with the other deaths.

Hughes incorporates rhyme into his poem to create a reflective effect. Each of the first five potential deaths is a simile that is compared to a word, and rhymed with a different word. This shows the connection among all of the different deaths, and how they are all united by their end. The rhymes in the poem act as a mirror among the verses, and suggest that the poem is a mirror of Hughes, the writer. Hughes’ poem expresses his feelings about the actualization of his dreams, which contribute to his self image. Perhaps if Hughes finds that he is unable to accomplish what he wishes to, his confidence in himself will perish as do his dreams in the poem. As a writer and as a person, Hughes is composed of his literary successes and failures, or his dreams for success and nightmares of failure. “The poem does not choose the dream but leaves it up to the reader.” (Grimes, page 1) From the reflective nature of the poem, a reader can infer that the dream about which the poem is written is of Hughes himself, and his success. In his poem, Hughes considers the many ways that his dreams, and in turn and he, can die.

 Langston Hughes explains in his poem that dreams that are not actualized quickly will inevitably die. Though the content of Hughes’ dream is not stated specifically, all dreams are a mirror image of their dreamer. Hughes worries for his own future and expresses that worry through rhyme and similes.

 

 

·         Grimes, Linda Sue. Hughes’ Harlem- A Dream Deferred. Suite101.com. Feb. 1,     2007. Print.

·         Presley, James. “The American Dream of Langston Hughes.” Southwest Review 48.4 pgs 380-386. Research 1998. Print.

·         Kansas History. Langston Hughes Biography. Kansas Heritage Organization. 1996.

 

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

oh boy, did i get into this, Emma.

i teach this poem in my literature class, and we look at all angles of it.

There is the possibility that the dream being deferred is not up to the reader. Considering the Civil Rights Movement etc. and Huges dying in 1964 just before there really was movment, there is the possible conclusion the dream was kept from him by others, not himself.
But it is such a good poem because it does delve into what happens to a dream if we ourselves shelve it. We keep saying we will get to it but don't. Then it "festers like a sore" "stinks like rotten meat" etc.

the longer we put it off the farther away from it we get.

on the other hand, the opposite could be true...the poem suggests in the end we might actually realize the dream.

There are similes throughout the poem...every line...until the end when it is metaphor...
Instead of him saying "explodes like a bomb" which could mean blown up, fragmented; it just says "or does it explode"

leaving that slight possibility that it "explodes into fruition" and becomes a realized dream. I love the open endedness of the poem...

i also appreciate your analysis of it, immensely.

Writing like this in my class, so well backed up with the perfect blend of you and sources, would merit a very high grade!

thanks for this..this gave my morning a "rush."

[Sujash I. Purna]

Learned something about dreams!