Unreachable Dreams In Hughes, By Macklemore And Harlem By Langston Hughes

Everyone has dreams for their future. This is because dreams are what give people the motivation to keep moving forward. But, some dreams can feel unreachable. This causes people to become less motivation and to be upset. This concept of unreachable dreams can be found in many pieces of literature. In the song “Wings” by Macklemore and the poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, the idea of unreachable dreams is illustrated as upsetting. “Wings,” Macklemore uses the example of how buying expensive shoes is a dream that isn’t real. Instead, it is a dream that is served to you. Macklemore then explains how upsetting this fake dream can be to people. Since Langston Hughes, wrote during the time of the civil rights movement in America, he focused on the dream of equality and how it was upsetting to others because their dreams were not reachable. Since, they both focused on how …show more content…
In “Wings” by Macklemore, the poetic device used is symbolism. Macklemore uses symbolism when he uses Nike to symbolize angels. Macklemore talks about the brand Nike throughout his lyrics. One example is, “I stick out my tongue so everyone could see that logo Nike Air Flight (Macklemore).” Nike symbolizes angels because they named their brand after the goddess Nike. Nike looks like an angel because she has wings while not many other goddess do. The brand Nike also symbolizes angles with the swooshes along each side of their sneaker. Those swooshes are put there so they look like wings on an angel. In “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, the poetic device used is simile. Almost every line in the poem is a simile. Hughes uses similes to describe what happens to dreams when they are deferred. One example of Hughes use of a simile is, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? (Hughes).” This quotation is a simile because Hughes is comparing dreams to a dried raisin in the