Hughes effectively describes the river at different times to display how slavery and white society tainted the stream and prevented it from flowing freely. The speaker links himself to his ancestors and reveals how he knows “rivers as ancient as the world” (Hughes 2). Throughout the passage, Hughes illustrates other rivers with imagery varying from huts that he slept in near the Congo to great pyramids that towered over the Nile. The greatness surrounding each river symbolizes the significance and proficiency of black society without white involvement, which readers can use to trace the history of blacks from Africa to America. Each river also represents the wisdom that flows and accumulates from generations of experience along with the different