Similes In Harlem By Langston Hughes
The poem “Dream Variations” by Langston Hughes depicts a theme and dream of getting out of segregation and violence.
Similarly, Hughes uses grotesque imagery to emphasize the decay of a forgotten idea. However, said forgotten idea can be interpreted as more than a concept when the time period is taken into account. Through analysis, it’s possible to construe Hughes’s dream as a person or society. In the line “Or fester like a sore-- And then run?” (Hughes 4), imagery is used to conjure the picture of a blister on human skin.
Comparing “A Raisin in the Sun” to “Harlem” The poem “Harlem” by Langston Hughes is about what proceeds to happen to dreams if they are not fulfilled. This poem, which appears in the beginning of the play shows the main idea of the play, “A Raisin in the Sun” which is written by Lorraine Hansberry. Since the poem displays the main idea of the story (which is dreams), I believe that it is fitting for it to be before the play since it has the obvious connections to the book. The connections to the story are the heavy weight of the money which is represented by being compared to a sore or stink, the hope for the money which is represented by the positive words, and the sudden disappearance of the money represented
Dreams are a common thing in society that hold and bond people together. Hope is in many aspects of our life as well, and fuel many of the wishes Americans possess. From Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's famous “I Have a Dream” speech, to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun play, we find that accomplishing these dreams and goals is something that takes courage or passion. Throughout these two pieces of literature, equality, racism, dreams, and hope are common themes. We can find that real human beings and simple characters share the desire of freedom, and strive for better opportunities in life.
The importance of this Simile is to show that nothing will always stay good everything has its expiration date. The meaning of the figurative language is something that has to start off as good and has rotted away and become tainted. It contributes to the tone of the story because when we are born we are innocent and cannot hurt a single thing and we can't be hurt but, as we turn older we learn about neglect, sadness, time and most important we realize that we lose things and people around us. The word choice the poet used is innocent until you realize what the poet is truly trying to say so it becomes less
In "Narrative: The Power of Storytelling" the author explains that a narrative is a simple story that is significant to you. In "Salvation" Langston Hughes recounts a significant time in his life. Hughes goes into great detail sharing a life event from when he was twelve, he wrote using a natural voice and used descriptive techniques from his memory to make you feel like you were in the church with him. In "Narrative: The Power of Storytelling" the author also says "you must show and not just tell", Hughes did just that in his narrative. When Hughes described the church and the members I could picture them all individually.
At this time, the dream was equality and being accepted as citizens of the United States. Hughes felt that this goal of liberty and quality for African Americans was very hard to reach or match. A poem that resembles this thought well is titled “Youth”, where Hughes writes, “We have tomorrow… Bright before us… Like a flame” (Hughes 39). This poem has a lot of analysis towards the American Dream.
Harlem Renaissance “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-- And then run?” (Hughes). These lines from Langston Hughes’s Harlem explain the struggle African Americans faced in finding culture and identity after slavery was abolished.
“Racial segregation must be seen for what it is, and that is an evil system, a new form of slavery covered up with certain niceties of complexity.” - Martin Luther King Jr. Even after African Americans became free citizens after the civil war, segregation was prominent in America up until 1964 when the Civil Rights Act was passed which outlawed slavery. Segregation required black and white people to be separate in their daily activities which created many social boundaries. Numerous poets like Langston Hughes expressed their thoughts on segregation through poems, Langston Hughes described his thoughts through an array of poems including, Harlem, I too, sing America, and Colored Child at the Carnival.
In the next part of the poem, Hughes answers this basic question about deferred dreams with a series of similes written as questions. The first simile asks if a deferred dream dries up “like a raisin in the sun” (3). The image of the dried and wrinkled raisin contrasts with the fat, juicy grape the dream once was. The images created by the following three similes are worse. Does the deferred dream “fester like a sore— /
Poems are tools used to demonstrate dissatisfaction. The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry leads by foreshadowing its theme of crushed dreams by starting with the poem A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes. The play follows an African-American family in 1950s Chicago, consisting of protagonist Walter Lee Younger, his son Travis, his wife and Travis’ mother Ruth, sister Beneatha, and mother/grandmother Lena, called simply “Mama” in the play. Walter is ambitious and wants to move out of his small and run-down home and find a better job than a chauffeur for the kind of man he wishes he could be.
Hughes tries to demonstrate the trauma that comes as an aftermath of this event, and uses various similes to present it. While a negative part of human life, failure is key for development. Hughes teaches us that the pain caused by a broken dream must be endured in order to move on, grow, and become wiser from your
," illustrates the irony of the cumulation of the American dream as it begins to crumble. The Youngers desperately pursue this American dream, hoping for opportunities of prosperity, upward social mobility, and the hope that their next generation should thrive unlike theirs. Working together, Hughes’ lines of his poem reflect the dreams of Hansberry’s characters and through this parallel, shows the effects on the Younger family when their long-awaited dreams are deferred by endless economic and family hardships as well as arduous racial boundaries. “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” (Hughes 2-3).
Everyone has dreams, but the thing is most people never accomplish them. Some people put off their dreams to the side because something more important than their dreams comes forth. They believe that is better to put their dreams to the side or give up on them and allow their dreams to fade in their minds. In “What happens to a dream deferred?” by Langston Hughes, the poet uses the title, tone, diction, and selection of detail, to express how people are affected by deferred dreams.
Many believe that dreams are just ourselves but in different world and bodies where we experience things that don't exist within our own world. What if dreams are just our minds showing us the reality of what are lives are or even can become at some point in time. The passage from Rebecca is a view into a world where dreams aren't always the greatest and sometimes these dreams can turn easily into a nightmare. The real question is which of the dreams should the dreamers listen to the ones of light and hope or of fire and ashes? Daphne du Maurer, creates a story where the moods are mysterious, nightmarish, and nostalgic that are all made possible with her use of literary techniques such as diction, imagery, and detail.
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