Let America Be America Again: Irony

In Langston Hughes’ poem “Let America Be America Again,” the speaker criticizes the absence of freedom and equality for marginalized communities in the country nicknamed the “homeland of the free,” that is the nation which promised freedom and equality for all, allowing the achievement of the American Dream. In addition to this, the speaker calls for a collective effort to restore America to its aspirational glory. The discrepancy denounced between America’s idealized values and the speaker’s disillusionment raises whether or not the notion of belonging is challenged. I will argue that literary devices such as irony and repetition are mobilized to vehemently denounce the disillusionment arising from the disparity between the idealized perception

In the text, irony appears under various forms: as situational irony and verbal irony, and these different types of irony are used to illustrate the disillusionment of minorities through contrast. Voice is another formal element employed to put into juxtaposition opposite perceptions of America, leading to an emphasis on the disparity between the aspirational values of America and its reality, that is the unfulfilled promises. There are three distinct voices in the poem: the first one advances negative comments regarding America on how this country never fulfilled its idealized promises. Then, I will focus on how repetition strengthens the gap between the idealized values of America and reality, therefore emphasizing the disillusionment arising from the previously mentioned contrast. The idea of repetition reappears through various literary techniques, such as repetition, anaphora, alliteration, assonance, and meter. Each device mirrors the recursive yearning for the promised values of America and the emotion laying behind this

After the first voice explicitly declares the lack of freedom and equality for them (15-16), the second voice of the poem questions the identity of the first voice: “who are you that mumbles in the dark” (17). It is quite clear that this voice addresses the first one due to “mumbles in the dark.” Indeed, parenthesis enclose the first voice’s words, imitating this idea of murkiness. In addition to this, the parenthesis also performs the idea of someone quietly commenting, scared of being criticized. Thus, the second voice is distinct from the first voice as the second speaker shows their disagreement with the latter. Also, the sudden typographical change marks a distinction: indeed, the 16th sentence is written in a bigger font size, in bold and italics. The third and last voice adds up to the second, supporting its inquiry by asking about the first voice’s identity and intentions: “And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?” (17). Thus, the two voices in the seizure both oppose the first voice’s negativity regarding America, as the metaphor “draw[ing] your veil across the stars” (18) suggests. This rhetorical device implies that the first voice conceals the potential and the greatness of America, the veil being the negativity obscuring the values of the nation, where the “stars” are an imagery – alluding to the American