Response to Dream Deferred, Essay Example

In the short poem entitled “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes, the author discusses many important aspects of the Harlem Renaissance.  During this time period, the African American culture during the 1920s and 1930s hit an era where society was inundated by new music, stories and poetry than ever before.  Suddenly, the African Americans began to describe their thoughts and feelings of politics, social construction, education, the workforce, and created multiple literary works that are still considered some of the best American literary works in history.  Hughes had an agenda and a very clear message in writing this poem.  The purpose of “Dream Deferred” was to express the harm of having African American dreams be denied by society, while still giving the community a bit of hope for the future.

The most obvious purpose for the creation of this poem comes from many of the questions that Hughes asks within the work for the outcome of a deferred dream.  For instance, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun” and then the line “or fester like a sore” are clear instances where Hughes believes a deferred dream can be very harmful to an individual.  Here, the author uses a rhetorical strategy of asking questions to make his point that if dreams are deferred, they can take away a piece of the person.  They can dry up and virtually disappear or they can even begin to fester, which is almost like being haunted by the dreams that never came true.  In this scenario, however, it is clear that the deferred dreams are not deferred by the individuals’ own wishes.  Instead, it is deferred by some outside source such as society hindering the dreams of the African American population.  It is this hindrance that Hughes believes causes the dreams to dry up or fester.

There are several negative connotations that Hughes uses to describe a deferred dream, but the 7^th and 8^th lines of the poem may actually be meant to strike hope within the hearts of individuals that have had their dreams deferred.  “Or crust and sugar over, like a syrupy sweet” are the only two lines throughout the poem where Hughes suggests that something good may happen from the deferred dreams.  Most people love sugar or sweet candies and snacks.  They like them so much that the culture gives chocolates for Valentines Day and candy canes for Christmas, and many other sweet candies for so many other special occasions.  In the United States there is the saying ‘sweet dreams’ that parents and guardians tell children before they go to sleep at night.  Whenever dreams are paired with the ‘sweet’ adjective, it is meant to suggest a pleasant experience.  Perhaps, as Hughes questions, deferred dreams can sugar over into a sweet syrup that keeps the imagination and heart hoping that one day the dreams will come true; instead of the other connotations where deferred dreams can cause much harm to the individual.  Within these two lines, Hughes is sending a message to people that they should not worry if their dreams have not been realized because there is always hope as long as people do not discard their dreams for good.

Hughes is very effective in suggesting the two possibilities that can happen within people if their dreams are deferred.  On the one hand, dreams can have a negative impact on people if they are not realized.  The dreams can become “a heavy load” or even “stink like rotten meat.”  None of these circumstances are very pleasant at all.  However, Hughes suggests the possibility that dreams may someday come true, and if the deferred dreams have become a sweet, pleasant reminder of what the person truly desires, it can have a very positive impact on the person.  Either way, the person has the freedom to choose how the deferred dreams will impact their life.  If they build hatred within themselves, the deferred dreams will only become a source of negativity; but this does not have to be the case.  People can choose to have hope and trust that dreams will come true, and then they can be such a source of positivity that the dreams can have a very pleasant impact.