The Five Similes Of A Dream Deferred By Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes wrote “Dream Deferred” at a time when the rights of African Americans were severely limited in society. There were not many opportunities for people of color to advance themselves in many jobs or mediums. Throughout the poem Hughes is questioning what becomes of an individual that is not in a position to achieve their desires, or not be able to realize full potentials. In “Dream Deferred”, Langston Hughes uses similes to make the reader understand and connect with the idea that unfulfilled dreams can have dire consequences to and individual’s well being; the closing lines of the poem make it clear that in many cases this yearning can ultimately destroy a person. Langston Hughes uses five similes in “Dream Deferred” to answer the main question of the poem: What happens to a dream deferred? The first simile begins on line 2 “Does it dry up / like a raisin in the …show more content…
This is the most powerful line of the entire poem because it is thought provoking, and ultimately a summation of what Langston Hughes is trying to convey to the reader. Hughes ends the poem the way he does because he believe that dreams deferred eventually lead to the destruction of the dreamer. In stanzas three and four he makes numerous comparisons to different things that could happen when a dream is unfulfilled. It is important to recognize that one or all of these factors can occur when a dream is put off. Due to the fact that the last line is a question and not a comparison leads one to believe that Hughes is attempting to express the message that over time one or all of these results can build up on an individual and destroy them. Overall, this poem is essentially a love letter to anyone who has ever chased after the American Dream, has ever felt the frustration of not reaching their aspirations, and of course to the people Harlem and oppressed neighborhoods