Let Canada Be America Again Literary Devices

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In “Let America Be America Again” Langston Hughes uses an abundant amount of imagery, tone and has a specific style of writing to show how America never was the “America” people thought it was. Hughes uses a lot of imagery when he explains jobs of certain people, “I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the negro, servant to you all…”. He goes on to talk about certain jobs people do in America. The images he puts in the reader’s mind all have a negative connotation: “I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the negro bearing slavery scars…”. He goes on to show everything bad with America, and how it is not free at all. Hughes is adamant about the poor nature in which Americans are treated to. He uses imagery of what people actually do in America to show how harsh it truly is. With this strong, negative imagery, Langston Hughes’s tone is clearly revealed to the reader. …show more content…

He is not accusing the people of America for doing the awful jobs they are forced to do, but he is angry at the way they have to live in the “land of the free”: “I am the young man, full of strength and hope, tangled in that ancient endless chain,”. The young men and women come in the workforce with thoughts of achieving their dream. Little do they know, it has never been possible: “America never was America to me,”. Hughes is accusing America of how they set up a front as if they are free and the best country ever, when in reality nothing is actually free and dreams often stay dreams. They are forced to stay in the minds of Americans because they have to work these cruel jobs to survive in America. Hughes is adamant about how poorly America has treated its men and