The Poem Harlem Theme

“Harlem” by Langston Hughes is a poem with a much deeper meaning than portrayed. The poem talks about what happens to dreams when they do not come true. Although, when the speaker addresses to a dream, he is referring to back in the slave days when black and whites were segregated. The blacks once had a dream that they would be treated equally with the whites. That they would go to the same school and not have to sit in the back of the bus. When Hughes wrote this poem it was a few years before the ending of slavery and segregation, so he felt that his dream was deferred. The theme, symbolism, and setting of this poem varies, yet it is easier when taking the time to read and understand it. The dreams of African-American slaves during slavery were usually all the same, they all wanted equal rights. The theme of this poem is exactly that, about a dream that in time was deferred and had seemed to never be coming true. The poem describes what could happen to a dream if it did not come true. The speaker describes the dream when he says, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore- And then run?” (line 2-5) This goes back to the theme as well, …show more content…
It is all about what can be imagined while reading the poem. Some can imagine the speaker sitting and looking back on his life and dreams writing this. He could also be saying this in front of a class as a project. No one really knows the exact setting. Although, it is up to the reader, where ever you imagine the speaker that’s where he is. When reading a poem, it is all about imagination and what you get out of it. Even though the setting and point of views that one person sees might be different than others, that is what makes the variety of poetry so special. Although, if we really wanted to identify the setting, we could look back at the slavery times and that’s when it was written so maybe it was written in terms of a slave who was in