Langston Hughes Allusions

Langston Hughes was a famous African-American literary figure born in 1902. Although Hughes was primarily recognized by his many poems, he also had different types of writings in his literary career that portrayed him as a novelist, playwright, and children’s books author. Hughes was a strong and inspiring person who had faced obstacles throughout his lifetime; many of which ended in saddening disappointments. One major shift in his point of view that impacted his life was the dreadful realization that his perception of what the American Dream was turned out to be a lie. James Truslow Adams once wisely stated that the American Dream is "…that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or …show more content…
Although many of his poems received a massive amount of attention, his poems based on the want, but lack, of the American Dream are heavily impactful due to Hughes’ inputs of allusions, the point of view, and his strong use of imagery. In many of Hughes’ poems, he often includes allusions to past African-American events which led him and others to believe that the American Dream was either out of reach or not fully available for dark colored people. The inclusion of alluding many experiences that African Americans suffered from helps the reader clearly understand the poem’s main message. A perfect example of one of Hughes’ allusions is presented in his poem, Negro. This specific piece has to do with a detailed description of the history of African-Americans or blacks, “I’ve been a slave: Caesar told me to keep his door-step clean. I brushed the boots of Washington,” (Hughes). In that previous verse, Hughes had the power to take us back in time and show us how blacks suffered. Instead of this character having the ability to obtain a real well-paid job, he was forced upon being a slave and doing footwork for other people. Hughes includes many