American Dream In The New Colossus And Langston Hughes

Despite all the social issues and injustices faced in our world today, chasing the American dream is still the fantasy for many. Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus” and Langston Hughes’ “Let America Be America Again” both address this idea of social mobility, and, more specifically, the dream of those immigrants who seek a home in America for a future of freedom and opportunity. Lazarus’ poem revolves around the meaning of the Statue of Liberty to both native and incoming Americans as a welcoming beacon of hope. Hughes’ poem, on the other hand, is more concerned with what hope and meaning America lacks for others, and addresses these peoples’ plight head-on. While both Lazarus and Hughes use their speakers’ emotions to call to …show more content…
This correlates with “The New Colossus”, talking about the pompous kings and tyrants of the Old World ruling over their people. Similarly to Lazarus’ poem, Hughes talks about the ideal America being different from that of the ancient lands’. However, this is where the two poems can be seen to diverge most. While the speaker in “The New Colossus” speaks confidently of America as this idealized, freedom state, the speaker in Hughes’ poem conversely argues that America is not yet this land, and millions still suffer injustice in this ‘homeland for the free’. In Lazarus’ poem, the speaker glorifies America as a solution and a ‘golden door’ of opportunity for all those who come. The purpose of this may have been to attract new immigrants from abroad to the U.S., as well as to boast the goodness and strong morality of the U.S. compared to other countries. However, in “Let America Be America Again”, the speaker shows this idea of America as freer than the Old World is false. As Hughes writes: O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic