Literary Analysis: Langston Hughes' Harlem and Deferred Dreams

This essay provides an analysis of Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem: What happens to a dream deferred?" focusing on the literary devices used, specifically identifying five similes within the poem. It explores the relationship between the poem's title and the theme of the deferred 'American Dream,' particularly as it relates to the experiences of African Americans. The analysis further examines the ironies present in the poem, highlighting how the suppression of dreams can lead to bitter consequences and emphasizing the importance of pursuing equal rights for the African American community. This detailed examination offers a comprehensive understanding of Hughes' poignant portrayal of deferred aspirations and their impact.

Running Head: POEM ANALYSIS
POEM ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1POEM ANALYSIS
This response journal aims to analyse the poem "Harlem: What happens to a dream
deferred?" written by Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes is famous for portraying the
thoughts and plights, of the African Americans. The purpose of this study is to find out the
literary devices like-figurative, language, imagery, number of similes from this poem. This
study also attempts to observe the relation between theme of dream and the title of the poem.
Similes in the poem
The total number of similes used in this poem "Harlem: What happens to a dream
deferred?" are five. These are -“.. dry up like a raisin in the sun?”; “Or fester like a sore”;
“stink like rotten meat?”; “..crust and sugar over—like a syrupy sweet?”; “sags like a heavy
load” (Literary Devices).
Relation of the theme of dream with the title
The poem refers especially to the 'American Dream'. This is evident from the title of
the poem. The title “Harlem: What happens to a dream deferred?” indicates the consequences
of postponing dreams. Here ‘dreams’ implies the goals of African Americans, the deceived
section of America, which has been postponed (Poetry Foundation).
After analysing the poem "Harlem: What happens to a dream deferred?" some ironies
can be found. The bitter ironies that the reading evokes are related to the consequences of
restricting our dreams by building up a shell around them. In this poem, ‘dreams’ refers to the
goals of life. This irony has been used to make the African Americans conscious about their
aim of achieving equal rights.

2POEM ANALYSIS
Reference
Poetry Foundation. "Harlem by Langston Hughes". Poetry Foundation, 2019. Online.
Internet. 20 Mar. 2019. . Available: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46548/harlem.
Literary Devices. "Simile - Examples and Definition of Simile". Literary Devices, 2019.
Online. Internet. 20 Mar. 2019. . Available: https://literarydevices.net/simile/.