"Deferred Dream" by Langston Hughes
Answer to Question #2
Understanding that the author was a black American narrows
the "cone of meaning" in this poem. Since the author, Langston
Hughes, lived from 1902 to 1967, I interpreted that the poem is about the dream
of civil rights. Furthermore, the comparisons Hughes made in the similes of his
poem reminded me of the struggles that African Americans had to go through in
their early history. They first came into the United States as slaves. “Does it
dry up like a raisin in the sun?” This part of the poem led me to think of
slavery because slaves worked all day under the sun without hardly any water. “Maybe
it just sags like a heavy load.” This line also contributed to the reference to
slavery because after working for hours and hours refer to a “heavy load” of
work. Because of working all day, slaves would sag and droop from their fatigue.
In addition, the poems’ similes contribute to the feelings one has when they
defer their dream. A deferred dream can run away from a person or, in other
words, they forget about it and move on. In addition, it can continually burden
and haunt a persons’ mind. It can weigh a person down with disappointments and
regrets.
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